


Trading Yesterday

by Shadowblayze



Series: Trading Yesterday 'Verse [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Feels, Gen, Lots of Feels!, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-10
Updated: 2015-08-10
Packaged: 2018-04-13 23:59:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 41,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4542492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowblayze/pseuds/Shadowblayze
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kawahira finds someone else to be the Sky Arcobaleno in place of Aria, and it changes everything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Decisions

Kawahira, in his ‘Checker Face’ guise, watched the sick Giglio Nero Boss and contemplated his next move.

While the Sky Pacifier _should_ go to young Aria upon Luce’s death, Kawahira had found another Sky to take on the burden, (one with a much Purer Flame), and by not holding two parts of the Tri-ni-Set, Aria would be able to use her inherited talents from Sepira to the fullest and keep the family that Sepira had _died for_ strong. 

Not to mention live longer.

Kawahira didn’t have the gift of Foresight, but something tingled unpleasantly at the edge of his senses and made him restless- and he hadn’t lived to be the last of his people without learning to trust his instincts, as the True Earthborn were much more connected to the Earth than the humans, and _something was coming_.

It was why they had had the ability to manifest the Elements in their very souls, after all- though that was a mere fraction of a True Earthborn’s power.

(Or it had been, until the Earth had become corrupted with lesser species and the balance had been disrupted, causing Kawahira’s people’s march to extinction while the lesser races lumbered forward gracelessly, unaware of the chaos they were inviting with their reckless disregard for the law of the universe and nature.  But unruly offspring never do listen until the consequences catch up with them, do they?)

So, that left the Administrator of the Tri-ni-set with the issue: to take the Sky Pacifier or not?

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

In the end, Kawahira had little regard for the humans and their silly ‘rules’.

The Sky Arcobaleno was special, but Kawahira was under no obligation to tell the other Arcobaleno who the new holder of the Sky Pacifier was- and he certainly didn’t care that they were technically the ‘Boss’.

 _Humans_.

Just as Luce went to hand the Pacifier over to Aria, Kawahira stepped in, swiped it, and disappeared before anyone could react.

(He’d never been more thankful that the Sky Pacifier dulled Sepira’s blood quite as much as he’d been in that moment, as Luce had been nearly as sharp as Sepira had been back when they were children, and Kawahira had _never_ beaten her at a game of tag back then.

He was also thankful that the Pacifier would keep the new Sky from Aria’s Sight.)

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

The little boy looked at him with eyes far too old for his young face.

Kawahira had had to pull him out of a _cupboard_.

He’d seen some strange human childrearing customs throughout his life, but in this day and age, and in an affluent neighborhood such as this, there had been no need for such measures.

“This,” Kawahira said, having taken off his mask so that he could speak to the child without frightening him, “Is the Sky Pacifier.  It is part of a system that keeps the world in balance, and needs someone to hold it so everything doesn’t die.  The problem is, over time it will make you sick, and you’ll be lucky to live to see your thirties.

There are six others with Pacifiers like this, but they are reduced to the forms of babies- the holder of this Pacifier is the only one who ages normally.  You can identify who they are and what Element they represent by the color of their Pacifier.

Collectively the seven of you are commonly called  _I Prescelti Sette_ or ‘The World’s Strongest Seven’ or the Arcobaleno. There are seven types of Flames of the Dying Will: Sky, Storm, Rain, Lightning, Sun, Cloud, and Mist.  Their abilities are: Harmonization, Disintegration, Tranquility, Hardening, Activation, Propagation, and Construction, respectively.  There are also Hard flames and Soft Flames, as well as Classic versus Inverted Flame users.  Each Flame has a characteristic color:  Sky is orange, Storm is crimson, Rain is blue, Lightning is green, Sun is yellow, Cloud is purple, and Mist is an opaque indigo.  Are you following along with me?”  Kawahira had been using his Mist to make illustrations as he explained, and there was a book in front of the boy.

The boy gingerly picked up the book and nodded hesitantly.

“The system that the Pacifiers are part of is called the Tri-ni-Set, and it is what keeps all life on Earth perpetuating- or continuing to exist.”  Kawahira paused and squinted at the boy, “You’re taking this pretty calmly.”

The boy smiled at the white-haired man, “At least my life would mean something this way.”  He muttered, scuffing a sock on the floor of the ‘junk room’, “My parents were drunks who got themselves killed and my relatives hate me.  At least if I wore your Pacifier I’d be doing something useful with my life.  Even if it k-kills m-e.”  The boy’s breath hitched over the end of his statement.  “And you used those pretty Flame-things in front of me already, and Aunt Petunia already calls me a freak.”  He shrugged, “Not that hard to put it all together.”

Kawahira sighed internally, he _hated_ humans- not the boy in front of him specifically, but all the stupid humans around him who made this _eight-year-old_ think like that, “Well, that’s not all I have to tell you.  Flame users are usually always in the Mafia, so you’ll need to keep your Pacifier on the bracelet I made you- maybe fasten it to your thigh or something- and eventually your Arcobaleno will find you and make a big fuss about you having the Pacifier- as you are the Sky and that make you their Boss, according to their rules- but by then it will have been with you long enough that they won’t be able to take it away from you.”

The boy nodded.

“However, the Mafia world isn’t the only hidden society on Earth.  There is also the Earth’s magical population.”

“There’s no such thing as magic.” The boy said quickly, eyes going wide and his body trembling slightly.

Kawahira sighed out loud this time _, he really hated humans_.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Kawahira was usually content to just leave his Arcobaleno to their lives once he’d done his job, but he’d stopped long enough to dump a hefty amount of Mist into the minds of the Dursley family before he left that night.

He was a True Earthborn, but he wasn’t entirely heartless, and the boy had accepted the Pacifier with minimal fuss, so the least Kawahira could do was make sure that his ‘family’ treated him with at least cool disdain, (and it wouldn’t do Kawahira any good if the boy died early from malnutrition, so he’d left strict instructions on how the boy was to take care of himself in the book he’d left with the brat).

The Pacifier would also protect itself and its bearer from mental attacks, so Kawahira had no concerns about the magicals finding out about the boy’s status, and by the time the other Arcobaleno thought to check _England_ , the boy would be fully bonded to the Anchor.

As he stepped back into his shop, Kawahira allowed himself a moment to lament the need to use such a bright, young soul for such a dark task- but the boy’s Flame was one of the purest he’d seen in _millennia_ \- potentially even purer than Giotto’s had been- and as the Tri-ni-Set Administrator, Kawahira knew he’d made the correct decision.

As a person, though, even _he_ hated himself a little bit at the moment, and he’d had to turn _his own children_ into Arcobaleno over the years.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Harry Potter turned the brightly glowing orange Pacifier over in his hands, the cheerful light it was giving off a pleasant warmth to his turbulent thoughts.

Uncle Kawahira had said that once the Pacifier had fully bonded to him it would only glow when one of his fellow Arcobaleno was near, but right now it was stabilizing.

The eight-year-old scoffed to himself and tried to push back against the tears that were forming in his eyes as he thought about how _screwed up_ it was that the man who gave him the thing that was going to _kill him_ was the closest thing he’d ever had to a _real friend_ or _actual family_.

Harry sniffled and swiped at his eyes angrily.  He wasn’t going to waste time feeling sorry for himself, Uncle Kawahira had done something to the Dursleys with his pretty Flames and now they were mostly ignoring him, and if Harry only had so much time left, he certainly wasn’t going to waste it _crying in Dudley’s junk room_.

The boy pushed down his oversized pants and buckled the bracelet-like strap to his thigh like Uncle Kawahira had suggested, grinning like a loon when it shrunk to fit snugly.

 _It’s like magic!_   Harry thought delightedly, still somewhat skeptical of the whole magical-society thing, but willing enough to wait for confirmation.

With that, Harry Potter skipped out of the room and headed for the secret stash of pounds that his Aunt Petunia kept under the vase in the hallway, he was going to get some clothes and some books.

Even if the Dursleys snapped out of whatever they were in after a few days, he’d have a few days and some memories to fall back on- and he only had so much time to make those now.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

The Arcobaleno were in an uproar.

Luce had passed on, but ‘Checker Face’ had stolen the Pacifier and _now they didn’t know who their Sky was_!

Even more disturbing was that no one in the Mafia had come forward, which meant that somewhere a civilian- _like Skull had been_ \- had had the Sky Pacifier dumped on them and the Elements weren’t anywhere near that person.

The Pacifiers were connected in a twisted way, (it was what allowed the Sky Arcobaleno to Sacrifice and bring back the Elements if they were lost), so the other six, (well, seven if you counted Lal Mirch), could feel the Flames of the new Sky Arcobaleno resonating through their Pacifiers, but they couldn’t trace them back to their source.

This made the Elements grouchy.

Well, if ‘grouchy’ could be applied to cold, hard killers who were able to end a person’s like with a credit card if the need arose.

“Still _nothing_ , Verde?” Reborn barked impatiently.

“Science takes _time,_ Reborn.” Verde snapped back.

The two descended into squabbling and Skull sidled up to Viper.  “Hey Viper.”

“Time is money, Skull.”

The purple-haired former stuntman sighed, “Yeah, I know.  But hey, does out new Sky feel-er, _childlike_ to you?”

The hooded baby turned to face the Cloud Arcobaleno contemplatively, “I thought I was the only one who had noticed.” Viper admitted after a few moments of silence, “But as pure as the Flame feels, it also feels very childish to me.  I believe that our associates are looking in the wrong direction as well.”

Skull’s lips tightened and he ran a frustrated hand through his hair, “A kid.” He muttered to himself. “You dragged a kid into this, _you asshole_.”

“Indeed.” Viper agreed, “However, I don’t believe that our fellow Arcobaleno would be inclined to listen to us at this point- not even Fon, he’s especially Storm-y right now, so we should keep this to ourselves.”

“Conduct our own search.”

“Only if you work for free.”

“So mean, Viper.” Skull pouted playfully.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Uncle Kawahira’s book had been a lifesaver, and it was Harry’s most treasured possession.  The boy had changed a lot in the past few years, no longer afraid to fight back or stand up for himself, but more willing to see other people’s points of view and not jump to conclusions either.

There were two hidden societies right under most of the modern world’s noses, who knew what other mysteries could be lurking out there!  He didn’t want to miss something _amazing_ because he was worried about something stupid- like other people’s _opinions_.

Uncle Kawahira had told Harry that when he was eleven he’d be invited for formal magical schooling, but Harry wasn’t really interested in that, to be honest.  However, he did want to see if his parents had actually been drunks or not, (Uncle Kawahira hadn’t told him his personal story), so maybe he’d go for a year.

According to his book, his Pacifier could shatter just about any Trace the magicals could put on him, so Harry would wait and see, but if this school didn’t live up to his expectations of _breathtaking_ , he just wouldn’t go back.

He only had so much time, after all, and he wanted to see the _world_.

Harry had been getting barely passing grades in most of his classes because he’d been committing himself to learning as many languages as he possibly could and learning as much about foreign countries as he possibly could his hand on.  He was currently fluent in Spanish, French, Italian, and English.  He was still struggling with his Mandarin and Japanese- and he couldn’t read in all of them easily, but he was _determined_ , and stayed up late and half-assed his other work just to push himself further.

He might be destined to die early, but he was going to make his years count, even if they just counted to himself.

He wanted to experience a Russian winter, see the Northern Lights in Alaska, play with Penguins in Antarctica, watch a Lion defend its pride in the savannas of Africa, see the Coliseum in Italy, walk through different time periods in Asia, go and explore the Mayan and Incan ruins in South America, see the oceanic islands and explore the seas-

Harry wanted to _experience the world_ , and _no one_ would be allowed to cage him- not even a world full of magic.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

“It’s been almost _two years_ , Viper, and our Sky _still_ feels childish.  How young is our brat?”  Skull asked frustrated as he flung himself into a chair in Viper’s Varia office.

The Mist Arcobaleno sighed, “I do not know, Skull.  Our compatriots are still looking for an older teenager or young adult.  If we had a name I could find them easily, but we _know nothing_ except that our Sky bears the Sky Pacifier, has a stupidly Pure Flame, and feels childishly young to the both of us.”

The Cloud Arcobaleno sighed wearily, “And Reborn-sempai has been getting even tetchier about my not officially joining a Mafia Famiglia lately.”  Skull grimaced, “I don’t wanted to Viper.  I know I’m technically a Hitman now, but I don’t want to tie myself to a particular Famiglia, even though I’m not super-strong like the rest of you.  I’m still a _Cloud_ , dammit.  I might be a pretty carefree one, and an Inverted Soft Flame-type, but I’m a Cloud in the end and I do not want to be _tied down_.”

Viper’s eyes flashed for a moment underneath her hood, “I can keep him busy for a while, if you need me to- you have built up some credit.”

Skull flashed his friend a smile, “It’s alright Viper, I’m just angry, is all.  Thanks though.”

The Mist Arcobaleno huffed, and began to plot anyways.

 _Someone_ had to look out for that cheerful idiot.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Harry looked at the giant man who delivered his letter and _truly listened_ to everything the man had to say. 

The newly-turned eleven-year-old gamely followed the man- Hagrid- through the Alley and made sure to keep his eyes and ears open throughout the trip.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

 _Sounds like someone with an agenda sent me a hero._   The boy mused idly that evening as he absently ran his fingers through the magnificent Snowy Owl’s feathers.  Uncle Kawahira had told him- and the book had confirmed- that all Arcobaleno had an Animal Partner.  However, since he’d been chosen so young and hadn’t been in complete control of his Flame, Uncle Kawahira had chosen to delay that aspect of the Sky Pacifier until Harry had gotten a better grip on his Flames.

“Hello beautiful.” He said to the Snowy Owl, “I’m Harry.  I won’t be going to Hogwarts, though.  I’m going to see the world.  Would you mind being my animal Partner anyways?”

The regal owl ruffled her feathers and gave him an indignant stare, and Harry felt a small pang of loss.  “Oh, ok.  I’m sorry that you won’t be going with me-OW!”

The owl had reached forward and bit down hard enough on his ear to draw blood, and the Sky Pacifier _flared_.

When the light died down Harry looked and saw that the lovely Snowy Owl had changed.  She was still just as lovely, but now she had orange veins in her pristine feathers- particularly in her predominate wing and tail ones- and her eyes were now a deeper amber.  “Coo.”  She said smugly.

Harry grinned, flame bright and brilliant, as he reached out a hand towards her, “Oh.  _Oh_.  I’ve been waiting for you, partner.  Let’s fly together, alright?”

The owl _preened_.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Harry’s second trip to the Alley went much quieter than his first, but was actually much busier.

He found that his Trust Vault was his to do with as he pleased, so he emptied it and got a nifty pouch that would convert currency as he needed it.  The Goblins had been more than happy to assist him for some reason, (The Goblins were a warrior race, and the Sky Arcobaleno Pacifier is a powerful artifact.  Magical beings such as Goblins would intrinsically understand the burden of such a thing and therefore view Harry as a _warrior_ as opposed to a _wizard_.), and so his estate was quickly sorted, meaning that the Goblins would be taking care of the financial and propertied aspects until he came of age.

(With his Parent’s Will sealed and Harry having never stepped foot into Hogwarts, technically Harry didn’t have a Magical Guardian, which allowed him to make his own decisions and appoint Grapplehook his Steward.)

The rest of the day and part of the next had been spent buying books, supplies, and other things, (a lot of them recommended by his new Goblin friends), and he slipped back to Privet Drive for a final night while he waited for his Passport and other items to be finished.

(Harry had been planning on travelling the world for over two years, he’d been reading travel guides, brochures, and tips from anywhere he could find.  The addition of magic had only simplified matters.)

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

August fifth, 1991, Harry Potter boarded a _Holland America International_ ship bound for Alaska, Hedwig on his shoulder and a grin on his face.

“Ready to fly, Hedwig?”

“Coo.”

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Harry found that magic was almost absurdly easy once you’d gotten used to the Will required to use the Dying Will Flames.

The wand movements that spells required were _fascinating_ , though, and Harry spent a lot of his evening time in his cabin reading about them.  Why were they necessary?  Why Latin?  Why not Greek or Hebrew or Arabic or one of the Asiatic languages?

Of course, Harry also had to keep up on his other studies, and Grapplehook had requested that the boy stop by a Gringotts location and take some assessment tests every once in a while- promising to allow Harry a small trinket from the Family Vault, (which was allowed by the Potter Family bylaws), for every grade level Harry advanced.

(Apparently there were diaries of past Potters in the Vault, and Harry was a sucker for history, which kept him motivated.)

He’d also met other interesting people on the ship, grateful that the Goblins had loaned him, (because when you bought a Goblin-made artifact, you were only paying for ‘your lifetime use’ not for the artifact itself, Grapplehook had explained), a bracelet that made people not question why he was by himself, as it made his conversations much more enjoyable.

He’d also started to learn bits and pieces of German from a kindly old German man.

By the time the ship arrived in Alaska, Harry had used up nearly seven rolls of film, and filled nearly two notebooks full of his observations and stories.

“Where to next, Hedwig?”

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Skull was thoroughly unimpressed by the Carcassa Famiglia.

The Cloud Arcobaleno _did not care_ that Reborn wanted someone on the inside to weaken the scumbags, Skull felt dirty just from _being near_ their Boss.

Skull gunned his motorcycle and made a sharp, tricky turn, moodily contemplating ways to passively irritate Reborn-sempai without making it seem like Skull was trying to irritate him.

(Skull was a master at passive-aggressiveness.)

So lost in his thoughts, he almost missed it when his Pacifier briefly flared.

 _Almost_.

Spinning quickly, the Cloud Arcobaleno smoothly backtracked and began to methodically use his Pacifier as a tracking device, his heart beating out a strangely loud rhythm inside of him.

Skull knew _for a fact_ that he was the only Arcobaleno currently in the United States.

Which meant……

 _That it was most likely their baby Sky_.

Skull slowly made his way up the quiet side street, keeping a vigilant eye on his Pacifier, which continued to ebb and brighten.

He came to a stop about a half a block away, and _stared_.

Because there, balanced precariously on the edge of a rickety bridge, with a beautiful owl on his shoulder, was a small boy with messy black hair, glasses, and the brightest green eyes Skull had ever seen.

The glow coming from his thigh was also a pretty good indication, as well.

The owl hooted and the boy looked over at him, “Oh, hello.” The boy said in a quiet voice with a British accent, “You must be one of the Arcobaleno Elements.  I’m Harry.”  Then the boy smiled so brightly it damn near hurt to look at and gestured to the owl, “This lovely lady is Hedwig.  You’re the Cloud Element Pacifier holder, right?”

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

The Wizarding world was in an uproar.

Harry Potter, the ‘Boy-Who-Lived’ was _dead_.

In between his introduction to the magical world and the beginning of term, something had happened and now the boy was lost to them.

(When Harry had used the Sky Pacifier to shatter any Traces he might have just before he boarded the ship, he broke all of the Headmaster’s equipment, leading people to think him dead, the Headmaster included.  The Invisibility Cloak had returned to its rightful owner without the Blood Wards obscuring him from it.  The Cloak was waiting patiently to be discovered at the bottom of Harry’s equipment, but that was fine- it was back with its family, which was all that mattered.

It was a shame that everyone simply _assumed_ that Harry had died and that the Potter Estate had entered its Probate Period- the period after a family dies out without heirs wherein it continues to be run by a Steward before it comes up for auction- because that assumption prove costly for them in the long run.

The Goblins knew, but no one thought to _ask_ them, and they certainly bore no loyalty to _wizards_.)

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

“Hi.” Skull said somewhat dumbly, “I’m Skull.”  He gestured to the top of his helmet, (he’d flipped his visor up), “and that’s Oodako.”  The octopus cheerfully waggled an appendage.

The boy grinned at him, “That’s awesome.  Is that your natural hair color?”

Skull grinned cheerfully, “Yup!”

“Hedwig and I were going to get something to eat, do you want to come?”

“Sure!”  Skull chirped, pushing back the raging maelstrom of questions and emotions with practiced ease, “Is that backpack all you’ve got?”

“Ah, it’s a special backpack.”  Harry scratched his head sheepishly, “I have magic, you see, so I kind of cheat a little in terms of luggage.”

“Ah, that explains a lot.” Skull replied, “You ever ridden on a motorcycle before?”

Harry brightened, “No!  But I’ve wanted to!”

“Well, come on!  You’re still short enough you should be able to fit if I cheat with my Propagation a little!”

The boy pouted at the Cloud Arcobaleno.  “Not _that_ short.” He muttered mutinously.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Skull took a shaky breath and dialed Viper, “ _Time is-“_

“I found him.”

“ _Skull?_ ”  Viper’s voice was concerned.

“I found him and _he’s a fucking eleven-year-old_ , Viper.  He was _eight_ when he took the Pacifier.  Fucking.  _Eight_.”

There was silence on the other end of the line, _“…..that is not all, is it_?” Viper asked finally.

Skull barked a short, humorless laugh, “You know me too well, Viper.”  The Cloud Arcobaleno began to pace, absently flicking his purple eyes back towards the tent entrance every so often, “He’s entirely reconciled with dying young Viper, he just wants to see the world first.  He’s not like Luce in a ‘accepting my fate’ sort of way, but more of a ‘live every moment like it’s your last’ sort.  He just wants to travel the world before he dies, Viper.”  The plaintiveness in Skull’s voice was nearly palpable.

“ _We cannot tell the others then, at least not yet.  They’d try to clip our little Sky’s wings_.” Viper responded flatly.

The Cloud Arcobaleno’s lips curled up into a grin, ‘This is why you’re my best friend, Viper.  Yeah, they’d try to make him a Mafia Boss because of his Flame Type, but he’s- something else.  He’s accepting and gentle, but he’s also got a spine of steel buried underneath all that, he’s a good Sky, Viper.”

“ _Then as his Elements it will be up to us to protect him_.” Viper said firmly.  “ _Carcassa is a negligible threat to the Vongola, send your report and disappear with our Sky.  You might not be the strongest out of the Arcobaleno, but you’re still an Arcobaleno, and I can track you_ easily enough.”

“There’s something else, Viper.”

“ _What_?”

“He’s Harry Potter.”

“ _The actual Harry Potter that was recently pronounced dead by magical Britain_?”  Viper asked incredulously.

“Yeah.  That one.” Skull replied amusedly.

“ _Hmm, explains a lot.  At least we know our baby Sky isn’t one to dance to someone else’s tune.”_   Viper mused thoughtfully, “ _Leave the logistics to me, you just play bodyguard.”_

“Thanks, Viper.”

“ _Hm, you owe me gallons of strawberry milk, Skull.  The expensive kind_.” The other informed Skull loftily just before the line disconnected.

Skull laughed, “Sure, sure.  Bankrupt me, you miser.” He muttered fondly.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Harry had come to find that he very much enjoyed Skull’s company.

For all of his plans to travel the world and his lack of previous positive companionship, Skull didn’t make him feel stifled or weighted down.  The Cloud Arcobaleno had a very dry, sarcastic sense of humor, and was _smart_ \- he was tutoring Harry and making his schoolwork go a lot easier. 

It was also making travelling a lot more pleasant with someone older and wiser to help with the plans, allowing Harry to slowly relax and just enjoy the places they visited while Skull took over most of the strategic parts.  That wasn’t to say that Harry was being lazy or anything, but Skull insisted that Harry enjoy himself, and when Skull had finally relented and allowed himself to be paid for his work, Harry had also conceded and allowed Skull to work while Harry did tourist-y things or something non-logistics related.

So, it was mostly due to Skull that they spent their Christmas holiday in the Bahamas, snorkeling and exploring caves.

That was also where Harry had met Viper- or Esper Mammon in front of most people nowadays- and Harry adored the tiny Mist user.

Granted, he was fairly certain that Viper only put up with him because he was the Sky Arcobaleno and was paying Skull so well, but he genuinely like Viper with her vicious wit and penchant for charging people for the strangest things.

Harry was also vividly aware that these two were _protecting_ him and his dream of traveling the world by not telling the other Elements, which was sort of against the unwritten code of the Arcobaleno, and that just made him love them a little bit more.

(So if he slipped a coupon or two of Viper’s favorite restaurant to Fantasma or just happened to want to go to places that Skull’s gaze lingered on a moment longer than usual- well, that was his business.)

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Harry doubled over laughing, “Oh- _wheeze_ \- my ribs.  I can’t believe you did that.”

Skull pouted melodramatically, “Oh, cruel fates!  That mine own Sky should laugh at my agony!”

The Sky in question cheerfully chucked a pillow at the Cloud Arcobaleno, “ _Jerk_.”

Skull laughed, “Well, that didn’t work.  I suppose I should start over.”

“What are you trying to do again?”

“A really tricky triple-jump, just with some creative flare.”

Harry snorted, “If by ‘creative’, you mean ‘suicidal in its survival chances’ then, sure.”

“You shouldn’t doubt the Great and Glorious Skull!”

“Monaco.”

Skull spluttered indignantly, “There was a legitimate issue with the fuel injector!”

Harry’s raised an eyebrow, Skull drooped, “I forgot to calculate the elevation levels into the jump parameters.” He admitted.

“I almost lost you.”  Harry’s eyes took on a pained cast and Skull was quick to hop up into the twelve-year-old’s lap, where he was promptly cuddled.  “I know that your Flames are the strongest in your generation and you’re really good at what you do, but be careful alright?  If Viper hadn’t been able to pull out that favor….”

“I’ll be careful, Harry, I promise.”

Harry smiled down at Skull with slightly watery eyes, “That’s all I ask.  I won’t ask you to be safe or give up something that you love, but remember that I’m the one that’s supposed to go first, ok?”  The young Sky teased lightly.

Skull smiled, but for the first time the full implication that his Sky, ( _this bright, bright boy who loved to finger paint with vibrant colors on plain, but serviceable bed sheets and donate them to orphanages that they passed by and cook dishes from whatever country they were staying in and feed to the homeless or poor and who liked to try to take pictures of the sunrise and the sunset every day, especially when they were over the seas_ ), would _die_ _before him_ truly hit home.

Skull stayed awake that night and ran small hands through his Sky’s hair as he watched over Harry as the young Sky slept and wondered what kind of _wretched person_ it made him that he almost felt grateful to Checker Face for giving Harry the Sky Pacifier, because the boy was the truest home Skull had ever known.

The Cloud Arcobaleno sighed and tried to force back the tears that burned at his eyes, “Skull.”  Harry mumbled, “’O ‘eep.”  A sharp tug on his wrist brought the baby-sized man tumbling down, and he was promptly cuddled like a stuffed animal, “’Night.” Harry mumbled into Skull’s hair.

Skull smiled and curled his tiny fingers into Harry’s sleep shirt, “Night, Harry.”

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Viper sighed to herself as she listened to Verde ramble on about trackers and devices and whatnot, prompting _yet another_ fight with Reborn.

The only thing truly keeping her from _bankrupting_ all of these fools for wasting her time was the fact that she _knew_ that their little Sky was safe and sound with Skull- they were traveling through Greece right now, actually.

Viper should have been more surprised than she was that Fon had been the one to catch her on her lie.

“Viper.”  The pleasantly smiling martial artist had cornered her when they’d broken for a recess and everyone else had all but fled the room and she had pulled out her ledger, “Walk with me.”

One did not last in the Varia without a healthy sense of self-preservation, and Fon’s Storm was raging in his eyes, “Of course.”

They had settled under a tree and Fon hadn’t wasted any time, “How long were you and Skull going to keep _our Sky_ from us, Viper?”

Knowing that she needed to mitigate the coming disaster, Viper was uncharacteristically blunt, “He’s a child, Fon.  He was only eight when he was given the Pacifier, and his only wish is to travel the world.  He did not have the-most wholesome- childhoods and is fully aware that he will die young, Skull and I were merely doing our job as Elements to protect him.”

Fon was silent for a few endless moments and Viper was hyperaware of her surroundings, but eventually Fon spoke, “I suppose,” He said at length, “That considering how close Reborn was to Luce and how Verde tends want to push the envelope that I can understand your hesitation.  However,”  Fon’s eyes were sharp when they cut back towards her, “That does not explain why you did not tell _me_.”

Viper sighed and resigned herself to being uncharacteristic this entire conversation, “You get along with Reborn better than just about anybody, Fon, and he is constantly at odds with Skull.  Harry- our young Sky- is quite attached to Skull as Skull had been his bodyguard-slash-caretaker for nearly a year now, and Skull is the one who _found him_.  Reborn has a tendency to hardline and Harry is a free spirit, we were simply concerned about putting you in the middle.”

Fon hummed noncommittally and Colonnello called for everyone to come back.

“Get your butts back here, kora!”

Viper suddenly felt like the _mouse_ instead of the _snake_.


	2. Deeds

Viper felt Fon’s gaze on her the rest of the meeting, and it was very nearly a physical weight against her shoulder, but Viper was Varia Quality and she wouldn’t fail her sweet little Sky.

The yearly meeting eventually ended and Fon didn’t call her out, (much to her relief), but he did fall into step with her and pleasantly ask if she was going to visit him any time soon.

Viper turned her hooded gaze to the side, “I will check my schedule, but Skull should be finished with the job he’s working on for me soon and I’m sure he’d love to see you as well, and combining business with pleasure would save money.”

Fon’s smile brightened and the Storm in his eyes abated slightly, “I’ll hold you to that, Viper.” He told her evenly before sweeping forward to catch up with Reborn.

Once she was sure she wouldn’t need to employ unsavory tactics or fight to keep her secret, Viper used her Mist to transport herself back to the Varia Headquarters and sank back into her chair.

How was she going to break this news to Skull and Harry?

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Harry smiled brightly as Skull wrestled with the sailing equipment, his muscles bulging underneath his jumpsuit.

They’d been traveling through Greece, but Harry wanted to spend more time at sea and not have to constantly be at the mercy of a cruise line, so they’d purchased a ship that had had magical modifications done to it so that they could man it themselves.

The charms would keep it from capsizing, assisted in navigation, kept people from noticing it unless the wards were specifically adjusted, helped keep the sensation of seasickness to a minimum, kept the rooms below deck from being disturbed by the violence of the sea through a series of absorption and redirection wards, and made the below decks quite spacious and comfortable. 

So, basically it was like a floating, warded house that ran on magically-generated steam, with a potion-based back up system.

(It had belonged to an older couple who had traveled for many years after they had retired from the Mediterranean Magical Authority, but after they passed, none of the family had wanted to keep it.)

It wasn’t very big- maybe ten meters along the waterline, but that was plenty big enough for Skull and Harry.

Harry had been cheerfully stocking the rooms with his knickknacks and souvenirs, a bit happy to finally have a space to call his own and even more ecstatic that it wasn’t _tied down_ to a fixed location, meaning that he was still _free_.  He had been hanging pictures on the walls since the ship had officially come into their possession, delighted to be able to walk down the corridors and chart his journeys across the world.

Their plan was to sail from where they were in the Aegean Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, floating past the tip of Sicily and passing into the Tyrrhenian Sea and along the coast of Africa as they transitioned into the Alboran Sea along the coast of Spain.  They would pass through the Strait of Gibraltar before coming out into the North Atlantic Ocean, where they’d float along the outer coast of Spain and Portugal, kissing the Bay of Biscay as they skimmed France and made for the Celtic Sea, and their destination- Ireland. 

Ireland had two Gringotts locations- Dublin in Ireland proper, and Belfast in Northern Ireland, so they would meander their way up the coast and take short trips into the beautiful country as they saw fit, as Harry had wanted to get lots of pictures of Ireland’s natural beauty.  Harry would take his assessments at one location and choose what he wanted from the Family Vault, and pick up the item at the other location, going by the order along the coast; it would be Dublin and Belfast, respectively.

So, when Viper called and told them about Fon, Skull had been ready to smash something.

Harry, however, had smiled brightly and told Viper to tell the Storm that he could wait when Harry and Skull were planning on visiting China’s waters, or he could meet them in Ireland, whatever Fon wanted to do.

“I’m his Sky,” Harry told Skull, (and Viper who was still on the phone as she was tired and didn’t want to Mist travel to their ship when she’d have to overpower her technique due to her not being keyed into the wards), “You and Viper have done a great job protecting me and I love you both for it, but you can’t protect me forever and he just wants to meet me, not make me a Mafia Boss or something crazy.  It’ll be okay, you’ll see!”  Hedwig hooted from her perch on a nearby railing.

Skull and Viper both groaned at that, already knowing what the Storm Arcobaleno would choose.

(Though they both tried to ignore the traitorous warmth that unfurled from deep within then and spiraled through them when their adorable little Sky told them that he _loved them_.  Neither Skull nor Viper had ever been _loved_ before- they had always been too dumb or too unpredictable or too different or too _something_ \- but this bright, bright boy _loved_ them for doing their _jobs_ \- _and well_ -

Maybe this was what _family_ felt like?)

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Sailing, Harry and Skull had found, was much more difficult than they  originally thought- even with their magical ‘cheats’.

However, it was fun to learn something pretty much entirely new to both of them, even if they were pretty sure they’d never be qualified naval officers.  They enjoyed the sea spray and other _traditional_ sea fare while they were on the unprotected parts of the upper deck, while also enjoying stepping behind the protective enchantments and feeling almost as if they were back on dry land, just with an awesome view.

They really didn’t spend a whole lot of time below deck, honestly.  They’d stopped and gotten a few hammocks after just a day at sea, and they enjoyed sprawling out in them at night, under the clear skies with no man-made obstructions _for miles_ while Skull pointed out the stars to Harry and taught him the history behind the various constellations under the guise of bedtime stories.

Their little ten-meter vessel slid cut through the seas at about 20 knots per hour without issue, and the trip from Athens, Greece to the Strait of Gibraltar was about 1400 nautical miles.  Skull and Harry weren’t in a hurry, and fall was a beautiful, if somewhat warm, time to be in the Mediterranean so they looped casually around Crete and Malta, (though they didn’t stop), halving their speed most of the time, and outright dropping anchor some other times- making their three day journey take almost two weeks, in the end.

Harry used about twelve rolls of film and had a blast, so Skull counted it as a success, though.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Skull sighed as he leaned against the mast and kept an eye on Harry’s profile in the moonlight.

The thing that was easiest to misconstrue about Harry was that his free spirit and kind nature translated over into being a saint or a doormat.

Neither of those latter titles applied.

Harry Potter had been fighting for his right to see the world before he died since the moment Checker Face handed him the Pacifier when he was eight years old.

 _“It’s like I had been living in a fog and all of a sudden everything was clear to me_.”  Harry had told him one night, the first night that something like this had happened, “” _I had always been scared of being hurt, or losing what little tolerance my relatives gave me and being thrown out to fight back. But knowing that I was going to die- did you know that Aunt Petunia was thirty-five when I was left?- gave me the courage to stand up for myself.  I don’t go looking for fight- and I like to try to talk to people because I like to hear their points of view- but sometimes the only way to earn a person’s respect is by fighting them and holding your ground, and sometimes they just want to kill, so you have to kill them first_.”

They had stopped in Spain while their ship had been processing, (they’d had to lower the wards a bit to pass through without alerting the MMA), and they’d been cornered by some thugs.  They’d just been street gang trash, but there had been too many for Skull to simply knock out before escaping with his Sky, and Harry’s words and knockouts had gone unheeded as the leaders showed up with reinforcements, so Skull had had to watch his baby Sky’s vibrant eyes dull, (like they always did when just defeating someone wasn’t an option), and his young jaw clench, as the boy had hardened his resolve and pushed forward to kill the leaders while Skull kept the minions at bay.

Harry had been learning self-defense from Skull, and he’d always been quick on the uptake so it wasn’t long before the gang was leaderless and in disarray and Skull could get his Sky back home.

The boy was staring up at the night sky and crying, (Harry always cried without making a sound), mourning more for the lost potential of the men that he’d killed than the men themselves.

Still, it made something inside Skull froth with rage to see such an expression on Harry’s face, and he hated those men for putting it there- dead or not.

Actually, they were lucky they were dead, and their minions would most like run afoul of Viper soon.

“Skull.”  Harry called softly.

“Yes, Harry.” Skull called back.

“Am I bad person?”

Skull gaped, “What?”

The boy turned to him, wet tear trails glistening on his cheeks and re-rimmed eyes serious, “Am I a bad person?  For traveling the world when I should be a Boss and for-for-“

“ _Never._ ” Skull said seriously as he leapt up to the railing Harry was perched on, taking his baby Sky’s face in his child-sized hands gently, “ _Ever_ think that.  You’re carrying one of the heaviest, most thankless burdens in the universe.  You don’t want an empire or accolades or treasures- you just want to live.  There’s nothing wrong with that.  There’s also nothing wrong with not being able to save everyone- it doesn’t mean you won’t try of course- you _delight_ in trying to give the Great and Glorious Skull _grey hair_ -“

Harry released a watery laugh.

“-but just because you cannot reach everyone does not mean you failed, it means that _there simply was no light left within them for you to reach_.” Skull finished smoothly.

The Sky released another laugh, that was more of a sob, and reached for Skull, who allowed himself to be swept into Harry’s arms and cuddled as the boy cried.

“It’s alright, Harry.  I’m here for you, Viper’s here for you.  You’re not in this alone.”  He soothed as the boy rocked him back and forth and tears dripped down onto his purple hair.

“Thank you.”  Harry whispered sometimes later, when the tears had stopped, but he was still clinging to Skull, “I know it’s just because of the Pacifier that you’re with me, _but I love you both so much_.  I’m happy that I get to live like this, even if it’s not going to be for very long.”

Skull swallowed harshly and blinked rapidly.

What do you say to that?

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Viper nearly crushed the phone in her hand as Skull quietly relayed the events to her after Harry had gone to sleep later that night, (or rather, early the next morning).

Incidents like this didn’t happen often, as their little Sky had a knack for seeing people’s hearts and bringing out the best in them, but it hit Harry especially hard when he was left with destruction as his only option.  “I see.” Viper said flatly.

“ _Yeah_.” Skull echoed dully.

“I will call you soon.”  She said just before she hung up, gesturing to Fantasma who gamely hopped on her head and allowed her to float towards Tyr’s office.

Viper was taking a few days off whether that old bastard liked it or not, she had _business_ in Spain.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

After the incident in Spain, Harry and Skull received a gift from Viper: a television and a device that played movies via a Flame-imprinted disc.  It wouldn’t be released on the Mafia Land markets until the next Spring, but Viper had also sent them an assortment of movies that had already been converted.

Harry had gaped and then thrown himself at Viper and hugged her, babbling thanks and promises of strawberry milk for the rest of her life.

Viper gave off an air of patient longsuffering while Harry had held onto her, but Skull spied a small, pleased smile on her lips.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

The trip to Ireland was fairly quiet after Spain, and Harry ended up taking his assessments at Gringotts Dublin. 

The Goblins had also gotten him the International Wizarding Standardized Assessment Tests, which was what those who wanted to work for the ICW had to take, (except for the politicians, who were appointed).  They were _exponentially harder_ than the individual countries’ own testing standards and were administered exclusively by the ICW Examination Authority, (who, coincidentally, _hated_ politicians and found it _hilarious_ that they were bound by Gringotts to not tell anyone that _Harry Potter was alive_.  The two examiners probably could have eventually worked around their vow, but they were from Switzerland, what did they care about Britain’s political disasters?  _Free entertainment_!).

The testing had taken nearly a week, between his magical and nonmagical subjects, as his IWSAT Examiners were _very thorough_ and tested him on _everything_ that he’d studied until they’d surpassed his knowledge of the subject, even in subjects not normally taught at Hogwarts.

By the time Harry had finished, he was moaning to Skull about his brain having turned to mush, and he was more than ready to get out and explore Ireland in an attempt to recollect himself.

So, naturally, that was when Fon showed up.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

They had just sat down to lunch when a head of dark hair popped up out of nowhere, causing Harry to startle and Skull to screech like a cat caught in a sudden rain shower.

“Hello.”  Said the pleasantly smiling toddler with dark hazel eyes, a red and gold Chinese martial-arts uniform, white pants, and Storm Pacifier, “I am Fon, and this is my Animal Partner Lichi.”

Harry recovered quickly and smiled brightly, “Hi!” he chirped, “I’m Harry, holder of the Sky Pacifier.  Hedwig is my Animal Partner, but she’s back on board the ship today since I was taking my tests until just a little while ago.  It’s nice to meet you, Master Fon- _you know over a hundred martial arts styles right?  That makes you a Master, doesn’t it_?- would you like to have lunch with us?”

Fon’s pleasant smile turned a touch warmer and he made himself comfortable bedside Skull, (who was just now collecting himself and glaring daggers at Fon while muttering about ‘ _stupid Chinese ninjas’_ ), “I’d love to, and just Fon is fine, ‘Master’ is reserved for my chosen students.  If I might say so, Harry, you look awfully young.”

Harry smiled, his green eyes vibrant despite the glasses obscuring them, (Fon absently noted that Reborn wouldn’t allow such a travesty if his Sun Flames could possibly heal the boy’s vision problems), “I was eight when I took the Sky Pacifier, I turned twelve this past summer.”

“Ah.”  That much of Viper’s story was true, then.  Fon supposed that he could cut her and Skull a bit of slack in keeping this young Sky from some of the more volatile Arcobaleno.

Suddenly the boy’s eyes sharpened and Fon’s breath caught somewhere between his lungs and his mouth- because this was the look of a _warrior_.

“I understand,” The boy said slowly, “That you or the other will be angry with myself or Skull and Viper, but please understand that I only have so much time and I will not spend it caged.  That being said, I never meant to hurt any of you I just-“  Harry waved a hand and leaned back in his seat, turning to stare out the window as he continued in a quiet voice, “Skull said that when you all came together with Luce, you weren’t the Arcobaleno yet, just a group of powerful strangers brought together for an unknown job.  Luce pulled you together and was there for you when the Curse took you, I’m just the kid who got the Pacifier when she died.  I didn’t want anyone to think I was trying to replace her or be her or something.  I’m just _me_ , and most days, I’m not even very good at being _that_.”

Harry turned and gave Fon a small, depreciating half-smile, “I’m just trying to live until I die, Fon.  I’m nobody’s hero or Boss or anything like that, and it wouldn’t matter how much training or tutoring I got- nothing will change that.  I’m just a traveler.”  Harry grinned then, warm and bright and brilliant, “Don’t you know?  ‘Not all who wander are lost and-“

“-all that is gold does not glitter.” Fon finished with a warm smile of his own.  “JRR Tolkien.”

Harry became animated, “Yes!  I love that guy!  Skull has been reading me his books!  He does all the best character voices!”

Skull spluttered into his drink, “Harry!  You can’t tell him!  He’s a _ninja_!” the Cloud Arcobaleno wailed.

Fon leaned forward in a conspiratorial manner, “Oh really?  _Do go on_ , I believe this might be one of Skull’s undiscovered talents.”

Harry grinned brighter and opened his mouth, but Skull’s dignity was saved by the waitress arriving.

(For a little while at least.)

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

“Oh, come on Skull, _please_!” Harry whined.

Fon sat back, gently petting Lichi, as Harry begged Skull to perform his favorite poem from The Lord of the Rings.

The Chinese martial artist could admit to already feeling a kinship with the young Sky.  It was very different from the sort of companionship he’d felt to Luce, much rawer in terms of emotion, as Harry seemed to bypass most conventionalities and go straight to the source of matters.

In the week that Fon had spent with his new Sky and Skull, he’d watched Harry be remarkably childlike and finger-paint nonsensical designs on old bed sheets from thrift stores during a rainy day when they’d had to stay on the ship, only to turn around and donate them to one of the poorer orphanages they passed by the next day.  Fon had watched Harry buy an almost obscene amount of food and then stage a coup on a local soup kitchen, exchanging lessons on cooking local cuisine for the food he’d brought, before happily serving the poor and homeless.  After the food had been served, Harry would take the time to sit with the people and hear their stories- making notes in one of his many notebooks and taking hosts of pictures to remember them by.

The young Sky also was doing schoolwork, both magical and nonmagical, and while Skull was an unorthodox tutor, he and Harry seemed to thrive off of one another, as Skull was able to follow Harry’s somewhat whimsical way of thinking while still keeping the boy engaged in his lessons.

The week hadn’t just taught Fon a lot about Harry, it had taught him a lot about Skull as well, and Fon was a little ashamed of how easily he’d written the other off simply on the basis of not being Mafia before the Curse.

Fon could understand Viper and Skull’s hesitation in introducing Harry to the others, but personally the Storm Arcobaleno felt that Harry was the Sky they _needed_.  No offense to Luce, of course- but there was a steel in Harry that Luce had lacked, and Fon truly felt that it could only benefit the other Arcobaleno to know their baby Sky.

For now, though, Fon would sit back and enjoy Skull’s performance, as Harry had brought out the ‘puppy eyes’ and the Cloud Arcobaleno had folded like wet paper.

The purple-haired baby gave Harry one last exasperated look as the boy scurried over and scooped Fon up and settled him on his lap, (that was another amusing thing.  Harry knew, intellectually, that they were adults, but he had a tendency to get excited and cuddle them.  Skull didn’t mind in the least, and Fon suspected Viper merely pretended to be annoyed.  Fon was a little uncomfortable with the habit, but Harry’s genuine excitement and utter lack of patronization kept him from being annoyed for more than a moment.).

Skull cleared his throat and began in a soft, almost hypnotic voice, “ _All that is gold does not glitter/Not all those who wander are lost/The old that is strong does not wither/Deep roots are not reached by the frost./From the ashes a fire shall be woken,/A light from the shadows shall spring;/Renewed shall be blade that was broken,/The crownless again shall be king_.**”

Harry and Fon burst into applause, with Lichi, Oodako, and Hedwig adding their own noises of approval.

“Do the older version next!” Harry cheered excitedly.

Skull sighed and allowed himself to bask in Harry’s honest praise, (and studiously avoided looking at Fon, “ _All that is gold does not glitter;/All that is long does not last;/All that is old does not wither;/Not all that is over is past./Not all that have fallen are vanquished;/A king may yet be without crown,/A blade that was broken be brandished;/And towers that were strong may fall down._ ***”

Harry sighed happily and settled further against the wall his back was touching, tipping his head back to look up at the stars, “The way you recite that is amazing, Skull.” The young Sky told the Cloud Arcobaleno sincerely.

Fon nodded and hopped up to Harry’s shoulder so Skull could settle on the Harry’s lap, “Indeed.  I had no idea you were so talented in the performing arts.”

“I was a _stuntman_.” Skull grumbled half-heartedly, “Showmanship was part of the gig.”

Fon hummed and once again thought to himself that this bright, bright boy was what his fellow Arcobaleno _needed_.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Fon could only stay with them for two weeks before needing to get back to the Triads, but he was surprised by how attached he’d become to the young Sky Arcobaleno in that short amount of time.

“Take care of yourself, Fon!”  Harry fussed worriedly, pointedly ignoring Skull’s amused snickering in the background, “We’re thinking of coming back towards Asia after dropping by the Mediterranean next Spring, taking our time going around Africa.”

Fon frowned, “I’d rather you’d stay further out from Africa.  They’ve been having civil unrest and it’s spilled over into the oceans.  This ship is also small, and for all of its magical advancements, sailing in frozen waters is suicide without an experienced Captain.  My recommendation is for you to cross the Atlantic Ocean and use the Panama Strait to transition into the Pacific Ocean, and make your way to Asia that way.”

Harry’s eyes were steady as he studied Fon carefully, “Wouldn’t the drug cartels be just as big of an issue as the pirates?”

Fon shook his head, “Panama might not be American territory, but it’s an open secret that they keep an eye on it, and the threat of the American Navy bearing down on them is enough to allow the Canal to mostly operate smoothly.  Africa has an ocean between them and the Americans- who, for all their various faults, are a fairly philanthropic people- and so the pirates are far more brazen.  I know you have magic and Skull, but I would personally feel better if you avoided Africa for now.”

It was a long, tense few moments before Harry’s shoulders relaxed and he nodded, “Alright.”

“Thank you.” Fon breathed out, relaxing as well, absently noting the grateful look Skull tossed him.  Hm, apparently the Cloud Arcobaleno had been trying to avoid Africa as well.  “There is a harbor mostly used by my family in Xiamen, China, where you can dock, and I can be your guide for the summer.”

Harry brightened almost immediately, “Are you sure you wouldn’t mind?  I’m mean I know you’re really busy and everything, but you probably know all the best places!”

Fon smiled gently, “My duties will be much easier to keep up with while in China, it will be no trouble Harry.  Though you might consider revealing yourself to the rest of the Arcobaleno soon.”  Fon held up a hand, “I have heard your reasons, and they are good ones, but they are also _flawed_.  You are _our Sky_ , Harry, and while there would be some adjustment for us, ultimately we cannot _make_ you do _anything_.”

Harry subsided but he looked unhappy, and Fon didn’t want to part on such a sour note, “Just something for you to consider.  Now, make sure that you practice your Mandarin as Simplified Chinese is _anything but_ \- trust me the traditional style is _much simpler_ once you grasp the flow of the language.”

The young Sky nodded and grinned at him, stepping forward and sweeping Fon into a warm hug.

Fon huffed a laugh and made a mental note to break Harry of this habit _before_ he was introduced to Reborn.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

**Tolkien, J. R. R. (1954), The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings

***Tolkien, J. R. R. (1989), Christopher Tolkien, ed., The Treason of Isengard, p. 80, p. 137

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

 

 


	3. Discoveries

After Fon’s departure, it was only another week until they needed to be in Belfast for his exam results.  Due to the addition of the magical exams, Harry had been told to wait to choose his trinket because it would take the Examiners the customary three weeks to evaluate his results, (as some of his testing had been things like Transfigurations that were technically OWL level and graded on sustainability, but Harry didn’t know that).

So Harry and Skull continued to meander through Ireland and Northern Ireland, soaking up the culture and generally doing as they pleased, but Fon’s parting message about revealing himself to the other Arcobaleno weighed heavily in the back of Harry’s mind.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Harry stared at his results, bemused.  “Are these, er- accurate?”

The Goblin chuffed, and the Examiners chuckled, “Yes, Mr. Potter, they’re accurate.”  The Goblin representing his nonmagical results replied throatily, “You’re flourishing under your current educational structure- highly unorthodox or not- but you need some help in your upper maths and sciences.  You passed your Primary exit exams flawlessly, as expected.  You also managed to pass the GCSE requirements for your Social Studies, Geography, and Foreign Language portions- quite an accomplishment for one your age.”

Harry’s brow furrowed, “They weren’t _that_ hard.” He muttered.

That only served to amuse the Goblin more, “Maybe not for one such as you who is traveling the world, but it is still quite an accomplishment.”

At the Goblin’s nod, one of the ICW Examiners spoke up, “On the magical side of things, you were quite impressive as well!  You cleared the Potions Theory for your year-level at Hogwarts quite nicely- which is more than I can say for the actual Hogwarts students- unfortunately; your lack of practical application cuts this grade to barely passing.  You earned your IOWC- or International Ordinary Wizarding Certification, which is the International OWL standard, and more comparable to a Hogwarts NEWT than a Hogwarts OWL- in Astronomy, Ancient Magical History, Modern Magical History, Spell Theory, Charms, Inanimate Transfiguration, and Runic History.”

Harry _beamed_ at them, happy that his hard work had paid off, “But why am I so advanced?  Not that I’m not happy, but I’m not even doing anything special!”

The other Examiner spoke up, “You seem to ask questions, and your tutor helps you search for answers.  Instead of being stifled in a classroom and having facts shoved down your throat, you’re learning because you want to- and that makes a world of difference.  Your willpower also contributes, of course- look at your upper maths and science grades!  However, you poured yourself into learning Spell Theory because you were interested in wand movements and why we used Latin for spells, and you poured yourself into History because your tutor refused to let you learn the Runic languages until you understood the history behind them- these motivations make you _want to learn_ and turn _boring facts_ into _interesting information_.”

“It is also reflected in your nonmagical studies, as these areas mirrored the areas you scored highly in,” the Goblin contributed, “Young ones learn better when they are interested.”

Examiner Number One took over the conversation, “There are some drawbacks to your style.  You have zero practical Potions and Herbology experience, and Arithmancy is going to be difficult for you if you don’t enjoy or understand mathematics.  Magical Creatures and Beings you scored highly in theory, but once again your practical experience levels your grade to barely passing.  So you might need an additional tutor who has previously studied these subjects at some point.  You also refuse to do any Animate Transfigurations, so that will preclude you from ever getting full marks in that subject.”

“Having said that,” The Goblin once again interjected, “You did far better than Steward Grapplehook projected, as you scored more than three IOWCs, which makes you a young adult in the eye of Gringotts Bank, not to mention you’ve fulfilled half the graduation requirements required for your nonmagical Secondary Education.  Grapplehook told me to offer you your mother’s diaries, even though they are supposed to be sealed with everything else that was in the cottage the night Voldemort came after your family.”

For a moment, Harry _couldn’t breathe_ and he accidentally clutched Skull so tightly that the purple-haired baby squeaked in protest.  “I thought that the Unspeakables sealed the cottage and the Ministry marked it a ‘National Treasure’.” He said, a somewhat bitter smile tugging at his mouth.

The Goblin leaned forward and gave Harry a toothy grin that was anything but reassuring, “Wizards see what they want.”

Harry’s lips curled into a warmer grin and he replied, “If that’s the case, please give Grapplehook my regards.  A half percent of the overall profits for the year- a quarter for him and a quarter for Gringotts- for every room that is conquered without question.”

The grin turned terrifying, “ _Of course_ , young warrior.”

(The ICW Examiners privately resolved to bring popcorn to the next round of tests.)

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Harry and Skull worked their way down the other side of Northern Ireland and then Ireland proper, as they gave the Goblins another three weeks to reclaim everything from the cottage in Godric’s Hollow.

As usual, Viper popped in and out a few times, and they all sprawled out on the deck of the ship, (they should really get around to naming it someday), and watched movies.

Then one day Viper brought a Disney movie and Harry and Skull were _hooked_. 

(Viper had laughed at them after that and proceeded to charge Skull in glasses of perfectly-made strawberry milk and bullied Harry into cooking for her.  Well, in her mind, really she just _asked_ and Harry leapt up and practically danced towards the kitchen.)

So it was lessons, philanthropy, and adventuring by day.  Then at night it was lessons, movies, and laughter over food as they laid on the deck of the ship and talked towards the stars until they fell asleep, only to wake up and start the process all over again.

Harry stirred and opened his eyes, readjusting Skull, (who was snoring on his chest), and Viper, (who was tucked against his side), slightly as he sleepily blinked at the lightening sky.

 _This is worth it_.  He mused as he faded back to unconsciousness with a smile.  _These moments like this, they’re worth knowing I’m going to die young_.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

 _When the Goblins  of Gringotts are allowed to go to war, they go to war._   Harry mused as he and Skull watched the last of the Godric’s Hollow ‘booty’ be stowed below deck.

Well, if Harry ever needed something plundered, he knew who he’d call.

Even if they were rather expensive.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Going through the things that had been in his earliest home had been- bittersweet.  He hadn’t touched his mother’s journals yet, (apparently the Potter Family Magic had protected them and that was why they hadn’t been taken by the Unspeakables), but some of the other things he’d worked through.

He’d kept a trio of stuffed animals- a stag, a wolf, and a dog- and donated the rest of the items from his nursery to an orphanage Wexford as they came back down from Dublin.  A lot of the other things that he wouldn’t be needing and had no other value other than them belonging to his parents also made their way to various places in Wales as Harry and Skull began to gear up for their trip across the Atlantic.

Harry kept things he could use- like the kitchen utensils, and furniture, and some of his parents clothes, and jewelry- but he didn’t want to be selfish and keep something just because he could when someone else could legitimately use it, so many things were parted with as long as they didn’t break the Statute.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

It was nearing November and Skull and Harry were nearly ready to make their first long voyage over open water.

It was just over 5500 nautical miles from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Panama Strait, which would put them in the open waters for about eleven and a half days at full speed, and assuming everything went smoothly. 

It was the journey across the Pacific Ocean that was the issue, as they were going to be traveling in winter, and the weather changes from the continents would be playing havoc with the ocean’s patterns.  The magic would keep them oriented and relatively safe, but their trip could take upwards to two months depending on how much speed they could use and how much the wards would need to charge, as the Pacific Ocean was very much a wild, untamed entity.

(The Atlantic Ocean was too, but there were sizable, grouped landmasses to break her up by contrast.)

So, just in case they were stuck at sea for months, boy Harry and Skull wanted to make sure that they had plenty of supplies.

(Also, Viper was sort of being a mother hen about it to them.  Not that they’d event _think_ that in her presence, _but she was,_ as they’d be out of range for her Mist teleportation and her Flame phone.)

So, after sailing the English Channel and riding the River Thames, they anchored just off of Westminster Pier, and made their way into London for some shopping.

First off was food, as the storage areas had preservation charms and runic formulas on them that would basically keep the food in stasis once the doors to the cabinets were sealed.  Harry and Skull hadn’t really ‘stocked up’ yet, as they’d been taking enough day trips that there hadn’t truly been the need to.  They would need to visit several markets over the next few days to avoid attracting too much attention, but they’d manage.

Water was another issue that Viper had been being _insistent_ about.  While there were charms and things in place that pulled water from the air via spells, Viper wanted them to have bottled water _on hand_.

So, they bought bottled water.

After that it was mostly odds and ends- like toiletries and such- but they also needed to get books and stuff for Harry’s schooling, which brought up their riskiest venture: Diagon Alley.

Unlike Gringotts- which had locations in major cities all over the world- witches and wizards were a dwindling population, despite their amazing powers, and Diagon Alley was the only magical shopping district that Harry technically had permission to visit. 

Restricting underage witches and wizards from being able to enter foreign shopping districts was an old practice that barely post-dated Hogwarts.  Adults were allowed to roam freely between magical enclaves, but children were often coerced into doing the dirty work of extremists- magical and nonmagical. When the Statue had been invoked, one of the tenants had been that unless a child held dual magical citizenship, _(which rarely ever happened_ ), only the country of the child’s birth or adoption, (which would require a magical contract and the appointing of a Magical Guardian), would be able to serve the child’s magical retail needs until they came of age and could defend themselves properly.  It was meant to protect the hidden shopping districts and the children both- you couldn’t give away a secret you didn’t know, and once the extremists realized this, childhood fatalities decreased exponentially.

So, since they needed new material for Harry to study, Diagon Alley was their only option.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Verde tapped his fingers on the table and tried to pull together the full picture before he did something Reborn-ish and _jumped to conclusions_.

 _Fact_ :  Skull missed last year’s meeting, supposedly because he was doing business for Viper.

Fact: Viper had been pulled aside by an abnormally agitated Fon during the recess and immediately after the meeting concluded.

 _Fact:_   Skull had been caught by Verde’s surveillance equipment several times in the company of a black-haired boy with green eyes and glasses, approximately between the ages of eleven and thirteen, but Verde hadn’t been interested in that fact until he’d caught glimpse of footage from _Ireland_ from a few weeks after the meeting that included _Fon_.

 _Hypothesis_ : Skull had found their Sky, and deeming him too young to be introduced to the more volatile members of the Arcobaleno, Skull had told Viper, who had chosen to cover for them- which meant that there was something _special_ about this boy other than him just having the Pacifier.  Fon was best at reading Viper’s moods, so Verde wasn’t particularly surprised that the martial artist had caught on, but it did surprise the Lightning Arcobaleno that Fon hadn’t announced Viper’s deception, which meant that whatever reason she’d given him had been deemed sufficient.

Verde pushed down the pang he felt at being overlooked by _yet another_ Sky, (Reborn had always been Luce’s favorite), and tried to focus on the footage of Skull and the black-haired boy.

Only for them to disappear into thin air.  No flames or anything.  _Just thin air_.

The Lightning Arcobaleno blinked, re-watched the footage slower, and then blinked again.  It was like those other annoying glitches that happened sometimes- the ones that _weren’t really glitches_ but no one _would listen to him_ about-

Verde glanced at the timestamp on the footage and hopped off his custom-made chair.

Skull had some _explaining_ to do.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Skull and Harry were sitting in a café plotting their assault on Diagon Alley when Hedwig suddenly spun her head and hooted calmly.

There was a baby with dark green hair and deep greenish-purple eyes walking towards them, an alligator meandering around his ankles.

Harry leaned over smiled as the baby came closer to them, “Hello!  You must be the Lightning Arcobaleno Pacifier holder!  I’m Harry, the holder of the Sky Pacifier, and his is my Animal Partner, Hedwig.” He said cheerfully, “Are you a scientist?  Would you like to have lunch with us?” he asked interestedly.

Verde blinked slowly, and ignored Skull’s snickering in the background, “Hello.  I am Verde, the Lightning Arcobaleno.  My Animal Partner is Keiman.  I am a scientist, and only if you agree to answer my questions.”

The boy’s green eyes sharpened, “I’ll answer to the best of my ability, Verde- _you’re wearing a lab coat does that make you a Doctor?_ \- and we were just getting ready to order.”

“Just Verde is fine,” Verde answered, amused despite himself, as he hopped up and took a seat next to Skull, “What do you mean ‘to the best of your ability.’”

“Well, you know how the Mafia has Omertá, right?”  Harry asked, getting an impatient nod, “Well, there’s another world, and they have their own version of it.”  At Verde’s dumbfounded look the boy cocked his head to the side thoughtfully, “Though I suppose that as the holder of the Sky Pacifier, I should have the right to tell you guys.  Don’t you think so, Skull?”

The purple haired baby snorted, “I’m surprised Verde _doesn’t know_ , to be honest.”  Skull took on a sly look, “Besides, Verde _always_ pays his debts, and telling him something of this magnitude would give you more than enough credit to have him come with us and make him tutor you, ‘cause I’m not trying to teach you science anymore.”

Harry spluttered indignantly, “Excuse me?  I’m not _that bad_ -“

“ _Another_ hidden society?” Verde broke in finally, “Another _whole world_ hidden from me?”  Verde sounded on the precipice of a breakdown.

Harry reached out a hand and laid it gently next to Verde’s own- close enough for the other to feel the warmth emanating from Harry’s skin, but not close enough to actually be touching, “Yeah, it’s pretty crazy.  But Skull and I were planning on going to get books and stuff for my schooling later on today, and we’re sailing to China via the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, which would give you plenty of time to explore this information.  I really do need a science tutor, too!  You wanna come with us?”

Verde’s mind was a whirlwind of thoughts and theories and memories, but as his eyes locked onto steady green, something long frozen in his soul began to thaw, and slowly the words filtered through the chaos of his mind and he managed to understand them.  “Come with you.”  He repeated somewhat dazedly, “For how long.”

“We’re not sure, couple of months, no more than four.  Should be in China by the time Spring is in full swing, depends on the conditions we run into along the way.” Skull replied from off to the side.

“Sailing across the Pacific Ocean this time of year is madness.” Verde pointed out reasonably, trying to find his mental footing.

Which was all for naught as Harry pulled out a stick and with a mischievous twinkle in his eye asked in a conspiratorial whisper, “Do you believe in magic, Verde?”

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Verde, Skull and Harry found out quickly, was an _evil taskmaster_.

On the plus side, Harry _did_ get a science tutor, and Verde could help with Harry’s math.

Back to Verde’s taskmaster-ness, Diagon Alley _did not_ go the way Harry and Skull had planned _at all_.  Verde called some of his minions to take _rounds_ of samples back to his lab, which meant that they had to brave the Alley _multiple times_. 

On the plus side, Verde supplied the disguises, which made things a lot easier.

On the downside, Verde was a _perfectionist who wanted to know nothing less than everything_ , and the Lightning Arcobaleno seemed to _thrive_ off of Harry’s questions.

(It was quite amusing for Skull, who had always seen Verde as aloof and condescending, to see the other Arcobaleno be so child-like in his enthusiasm.  Skull would admit that Harry just tended to have that effect on people- the Arcobaleno in particular- and that the baby Sky was slowly inching his way towards physical contact with Verde, consciously or not. 

Viper was more amused than anything when he’d called her, and was fairly resigned to sharing their Sky with the others at this point.

Still, watching Verde and Harry huddle over a textbook together and toss theories back and forth was bizarre in the _best sort of way_.  Verde would go off on tangents, and Harry would obviously be _lost_ by the techno-babble, but he’d be rapturously following Verde’s speech, and then he’d ask questions about what he _had_ understood, and those things seemed to mean more to Verde than the Lightning Arcobaleno realized he let show.

Skull was starting to understand what Fon was trying to say, but that _didn’t_ mean that he was ready to share their baby Sky with Reborn-sempai and Colonnello yet.)

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

By the time they set sail, it was nearly December and Harry had _insisted_ that they have a small Christmas dinner together.

When they finally departed from England, Viper was with them and they- Harry, Verde, Viper, and Skull- sat on the magically-warmed deck eating the dinner Harry had made as the ship glided through the water based on the pre-planned coordinates that Verde had programmed into the navigational charms.  The night sky had been clear, and the conversation had flowed, and when it was all over Harry had begged Skull to perform his favorite poem, and the Cloud Arcobaleno had once again folded to Harry’s ‘puppy eyes’.

(In later years, when his sickness would get to him, this would be one of his favorite memories to remember.  The only thing that would have made that night perfect would have been if the others had been with them.)

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Learning from someone as smart as Verde should probably make the student feel stupid or inadequate, but Harry just felt lucky.

Verde was _really smart_.

There were moments when he and Skull sort of butted heads, but it was usually just them rubbing each other the wrong way, and it would only take a moment for Harry to sort them out, so their voyage had been pretty fun.

Harry would even pester Verde into taking breaks with Skull and him, having the scientist suit up and paint bed sheets or Harry would drag Verde up to the upper deck and point out things and ask questions about them, which would get the scientist talking and teaching.

Ask about that cool colored patch of water?  Get a full science lesson about what was happening to the organisms at the cellular level and why and what factors affect such a thing.

Point out that small cloud on the horizon?  Learn about weather patterns and clouds and how gravity and the ocean and the Earth’s _magnetic poles_ affect such things.

It was _awesome_ that Verde knew so many cool things, and Harry always made sure to tell him, too.

Even Skull would stop and listen to some of the random lessons and ask his own questions.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

They passed through the Panama Strait, (or the Panama Canal, if you prefer), easily, and were in the Pacific Ocean before the end of the second week of December.

Unfortunately- or fortunately as they really had nowhere to be and were enjoying themselves- the weather turned against them soon after and they ended up having to take things slowly, and not at all several times.

Verde was _ecstatic_ to be able to see so many weather phenomenon up close and personally, especially pleased when his Flame-devices were able to record data as they hadn’t fried around the high concentration of magic.

They made a slow crawl across the Pacific and ended up a little further south than they planned, as they came across the tip of the Northern Mariana Islands, when they’d been aiming for Taiwan.  Overall, it wasn’t that far off considering how many storms they’d weathered, so they’d simply corrected their course and moved on.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

It was March when they docked in Xiamen, China. 

Skull having called Viper once they’d gotten in range of the Flame-towers, meant that Fon had called Skull with instructions shortly thereafter, with instructions on where to go and how far to lower the wards.

Fon was also _ridiculously pleased_ to see Verde with them.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Verde, having been away from his labs for almost five months, was itching to get back to them.

Harry insisted that they see the Lightning Arcobaleno and Kieman off at the airport, and fussed at the scientist about proper sleeping habits and eating decent meals.

Fon and Skull wisely stayed back.

“You’ll be alright, won’t you?  And I can still call if I have questions with my homework, right?”  Harry babbled from where he was knelt down to be closer to Verde’s eye level as he fussed with the green-haired baby’s lab coat.  “and I won’t call too much ‘cause I know you’ll be busy but-“

“Harry.” Verde said patiently.

“-but I don’t want you to forget me either and-“ The Sky continued to babble quickly, seemingly not hearing Verde.

“ _Harry_.”

Harry’s mouth snapped shut and he peeked up at Verde with teary green eyes.

Verde felt his chest _seize_ and his mouth went dry as that something that had started to unthaw all those months ago blossomed into full-on _warmth_. 

_This….._

_This was what having a Sky was supposed to feel like_.  He realized suddenly, with that crystal-clear clarity that he usually solved complicated formulae or so-called unsolvable puzzles.  _This is the home and warmth and freedom that having a Sky is supposed to feel like._

Heady from his realization, he physical contact with Harry for the first time, “I won’t forget,” He mumbled to the boy, who had automatically wrapped his warm arms around Verde, “Because not all who wander are lost, ne?”

Verde could _feel_ Harry smiling into his hair as wet drops splashed down onto him, “Yeah,” Harry said thickly, “Just don’t forget to wander back every once in a while, alright.”

“Always, I have to make sure that idiot Skull doesn’t teach you all the wrong types of sedimentary rock.”

“That was _one time_!” Skull yelled.  “Who cares about rocks, anyways!”

Harry laughed brightly, (and that was the only reason why Verde wasn’t going to fry Skull to a crisp), and Verde pulled back, “Promise me you’ll take care of yourself?” Harry ordered.

“I promise.” Verde swore solemnly.

“Alright then.” Harry said reluctantly as he slowly drew away and stood up, “Make sure you call us when you land safely.”

Verde rolled his eyes this time, “Yes, mother.”

Harry gave him a cheeky grin, “I will take you over my knee, young man!” He accentuated his statement with an exaggerated finger waggle.

The Lightning Arcobaleno laughed and turned around and walked away.

 _It was nice_ , Verde mused as he watched Harry scoop up Skull and turn around to watch the plane take off, waving wildly when the Sky saw Verde by the window, _To know that you have a home to go home to._

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―


	4. Dialects

Fon, as it turned out, knew _a lot_ about China.

Harry hadn’t truly appreciated just how many different ways you could speak the same language until that summer. 

However, as Fon led him and Skull through the exciting areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guizhou, and Guangxi before seeing them off at the airport in Hainan, (they were flying to the summit, and had left the ship docked in Xiamen), Harry guessed that Fon had spoken no less than ten different dialects during their travels.

Granted, they weren’t _official dialects_ , but to Harry they had _definitely_ seemed like a mostly-foreign language.

(For Harry the lesson in that little fact was that even if you were speaking the same language as someone else, you still might be unable to _understand_ each other if you  didn’t _listen carefully_.

It would take him a while to fully absorb that lesson, however.)

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Harry had agreed to go to the yearly summit of the Arcobaleno, so Fon had informed Lal Mirch, Colonnello, and Reborn that the Sky would be attending this year.

Naturally, he informed them about two minutes before Harry walked into the room.

“He’s a brat, kora!” Colonnello yelped.

“Hm, he does seem rather young.” Lal Mirch commented, her visor obscuring most of her face.

“When,” Reborn asked dangerously, “Did you find him?”

“Um, Hi!” Harry waved cheerfully at the assembled babies, “I’m Harry, the holder of the Sky Pacifier and I have been since I was eight.  My Animal Partner is Hedwig, the lovely lady on my shoulder, and I just want to see the world before I die.  Sorry to keep you waiting!” He finished somewhat uncertainly, as Reborn’s eyes were shadowed by his fedora with his mouth in a grim line, while Colonnello’s hands worked themselves into fists.

Lal Mirch was the one to break the silence, “How long have you known?” She asked Fon tersely.

“It wasn’t his fault!” Harry burst out suddenly, “There’s a whole other world hidden from the Mafia that wanted to use me because of something my parents did and I was scared that you’d want to do the same when I heard about all the ‘Boss’ and Mafia stuff.  Please don’t be mad!  I just-“ Harry’s head fell forward and his hair shadowed his eyes as his voice shook and tears fell, “I just want to enjoy the time I have left.  _I didn’t mean to get in anyone’s way or hurt anyone!_ ”

“So who found you, kora?” Colonnello asked sharply.

“Skull.” Reborn said flatly, “Skull found you and Viper covered for him.”

Skull nodded and Viper shrugged. 

“Fon cornered me at last year’s meeting.” Viper said by way of explanation.

“So,” Lal Mirch continued in a numb voice, “How did Verde find out?”

“Surveillance equipment from after last year’s meeting and noting Fon pulling Viper aside.” Verde replied blandly, shooting concerned looks at Harry who was still standing with his eyes shadowed and tears dripping off his nose.

Reborn stood abruptly and stalked off, Colonnello following in his wake, Lal Mirch was as still as a statue and as warm as a Russian winter.

“Go after them Fon, _please_.” Harry pleaded softly.

The martial artist hesitated, but acquiesced with a sad sigh, “I’m sorry, Harry.”

The boy’s lips curved into a humorless smile, “It’s alright.  I deserve it.  Just make sure they’re ok, alright?”

Fon _really hated_ Harry’s ability to keep his voice even when he was upset.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

The yearly summit of the Arcobaleno was always seven days long.

Harry’s reception from the three Arcobaleno he hadn’t met before hadn’t really gotten any better.  Reborn glared at him with dark, mistrusting eyes, and Colonnello gave him empty smirks and jokes, but Lal Mirch really hurt because Viper had always spoken highly of the only other female Arcobaleno.

“Harry.” Skull called softly.

“Down here.” Harry called from the little alcove he’d found that overlooked the lake that was situated behind the mansion.

“Are you alright?” Skull asked gently as he came stop just short of Harry, who opened his arms and gratefully snuggled the Cloud Arcobaleno once Skull hopped into his lap.

“I’ll be alright.” Harry murmured into Skull’s hair, “I hate that they’re angry, and I’m angry at their hate.  I’m more upset about driving a wedge in between all of you, though.  Verde has been especially prickly all week, and I know Fon’s been really upset with Reborn’s attitude, let’s not even mention Viper and Lal Mirch.”

“Yeah.” Skull grimaced as he thought back to the screaming match the two usually calm and composed ladies had gotten into the second night, “Let’s _not_.”

“It’s just-“ Harry trailed off and closed his eyes, sighing heavily as he cuddled Skull closer.  “My relatives hated me.” He said after a few minutes of silence, “They were a solidly middle class vacation-in-Majorca kind of family.  The house had two stories, an attached garage, and a generous lot.  The neighborhood was something off of a _Better Homes and Gardens Magazine_ cover and on the outside everything was perfect.”

Skull was silent, scared to even _breathe_.  Of all the things that they’d talked about, they had never discussed Harry’s family, at least not the ones he’d left behind in England.

“The house had four bedrooms.  My Aunt and Uncle had one, my cousin had two, and the last was the guest room.  You know where I slept, Skull?”  Harry laughed, short and bitter, “In the tiny little cupboard under the stairs that people usually keep cleaning supplies inside, on a ratty toddler mattress with the air vent at the bottom as my only light.”

Harry shook his head and released Skull enough to be able to use his hands to emphasize his point, “My cousin was given the best of everything and allowed to run roughshod while I cleaned and cooked and gardened for that measly bit of space because I-” Harry broke off and continued in a false sweet voice, “ _’took you in out of the kindness of our hearts, boy!  My freakish sister and her drunkard of a husband went and got themselves killed and we got saddled with you, so you’d better be grateful for whatever get, you freaky little leech_!”

Skull was shaking with rage, but he tried to keep himself under control as Harry’s breathing sped up and tears began to land on Skull’s hair and neck.  “They told me that for _years_ , Skull, and I didn’t know any better than to believe them.  Checker Face giving me this damn Pacifier that’s going to kill me is the _best thing that’s ever happened to me_.  It gave me the courage to _live_ , to not be afraid of what was past the safety of the Du- _their_ tolerance.  Then I met you and Viper and Fon and Verde- and I thought that maybe things would be _alright_ , that maybe miracles really do happen for freaks but now-“

Harry’s sobs made his body shiver but he was silent as always, “Those three, Luce was their friend, right?  Shouldn’t they at least be grateful that I’m the one who is going to die instead of her daughter?”

Skull hugged Harry and silently cursed the other three as Harry wrapped his arms back around the Cloud Arcobaleno.

“I was scared.”  Harry whispered hoarsely a little while later, “Scared to meet Reborn the most.  Because he’s the Sun, you know?  The sun can provide warmth and comfort, but I spent enough days weeding the Du- _their_ garden to know that it can also _burn_.  I was scared that he’d burn through me and I was _right_.  He hates me and it _burns._ ”  Harry barked out a short, bitter laugh, “It burns and there is no Rain to soothe it, and Viper’s Mist can only do so much.  Fon was _wrong,_ _I’m a terrible Sky,_ Skull.”

The tiny Arcobaleno clung tighter to Harry and prayed that things got better.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Harry woke the next morning with gritty eyes and a sore throat, but he pushed himself up and groggily performed his morning ablutions.

He made his way to the breakfast table silently, trying to muster up a smile for Verde, Fon, Skull, and Mammon when he arrived.

“Good morning, Harry.” Fon greeted genially, “Did you sleep well?”

Harry hesitated, then shrugged, “I slept.  Did you sleep well, Fon?”

Conversation was stilted from there and the silence seemed even more oppressive than it had been earlier in the week, so Harry soon escaped outside.

He was once again in his little alcove, gently petting Hedwig, when someone cleared their throat in an effort to get his attention, “May I join you?”

Harry smiled gently at Lal Mirch, “Sure, Miss Lal.” 

(Hedwig ruffled her feathers indifferently and flew a short ways away; she had no patience for the small humans who were making her Partner sad.)

“I wanted to apologize.” Lal Mirch said briskly, “For my conduct it was-“

“It’s fine.” Harry cut her off firmly, but kindly.  His green eyes were heavily ringed with black behind his glasses as he looked at her, “It was my fault I shouldn’t have-“

“No, I sho-“ Lal Mirch cut in sternly.

Harry breaking out into deep, racking coughs interrupted her this time, as the boy pressed his hands to his mouth.  When the fit subsided nearly ninety-six seconds later and Harry pulled his hands back, there was blood on them.

“ _Harry_.” Lal said, quietly horrified, “Harry you shouldn’t be that far gone yet.”

“Story of my life, Miss Lal.” Harry rasped out as he struggled to his feet, “I should probably find Verde, he’ll want to know.” Harry muttered distantly.  “He was making me new glasses last time I checked on him.”

The boy stumbled as he went to take a step and Lal was horrified to see blood leaking out of one of his ears.

“ _Colonnello_!” She shrieked, “ _Colonnello_!  _Viper_!  _Skull_!  _Reborn_!  _Verde_!  _Fon_!”  She yelled loudly, “Something’s wrong-“

She was cut off by Viper’s arrival, “Harry!”  The Mist Arcobaleno gasped in alarm, “Harry, _sit down you foolish child_!”

Harry blinked sluggishly and then smiled up at Viper, “Oh, hi Viper, have you seen Verde?  I need to tell him I’m sick.”

That was about the time the rest of the Arcobaleno arrived and saw the blood on Harry’s hands and the way he was swaying.  Viper quickly constructed an illusion to take Harry back to the house, “Verde, why is this happening?” She asked in a voice that didn’t quite hide her panic.

Verde was riding on the illusion’s shoulder and asking Harry questions, “I don’t know.”  The Lightning Arcobaleno replied grimly, “But I think it might have something to do with the scar he got the night his parents were murdered.”

Reborn silently ran with them and considered everything he’d learned.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Back in Britain, Lord Voldemort was basking in the exaltation of being fully resurrected.

He hadn’t managed to get ahold of the Philosopher’s Stone in the previous year, but with Harry Potter dead, ( _dead!_ ), it had been easy enough to convince the Old Fool to let ‘Quirrell’ teach for another year.

(Fortunately he hadn’t had the fool drink Unicorn Blood, but the body was deteriorating and the consciousness of Quirinus Quirrell had largely passed on already.)

Voldemort hadn’t been _precisely sure_ of his full plan until he’d spotted _his Diary_ on that foolish Weasley chit.

(He’d also made a mental note to severely punish Lucius later.)

Quirrell didn’t have enough Life Force left to use the Diary to its fullest capacity, and Voldemort couldn’t risk the Chamber being opened and it falling into the Old Fool’s hands. 

So, he’d taken the book and performed some rather complicated spellwork on it before returning it to the foolish girl with a stern warning about leaving personal possessions lying around.

He’d also passed out ‘homework notebooks’ to his classes, with random books spelled to siphon off and relay Life Force to the Diary, and then ultimately to him.

(That’s what happened, when you lowered the Hogwarts Wards and gave out second chances.  Little things slipped through the cracks, if you weren’t careful.)

The Wednesday before school ended, everything came to a head.

The body he was inhabiting _renewed_ as it truly became his _own_ and he felt the Diary piece of his soul return to him not long before the chaos started.

Voldemort smirked as he felt his features begin to shift; it was time for ‘Quirrell’ to die.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Albus Dumbledore put his head in his hands as he tried to make sense of what was happening.

Not three days ago, Ginny Weasley had been found with a Dark Artifact after the Unspeakables had been called in to investigate the sudden squibbing of _seventy-three students_.

Fortunately, Albus had been able to argue Miss Weasley’s innocence- _as she, too was a victim_ \- but that still left the question of who had given her such a wretched artifact to begin with.

Students across all years, all backgrounds- _nothing made any sort of sense about this situation_!  Albus had had his doubts about Quirrell, but the Unspeakables swore that the ‘homework books’ he gave the students were entirely benign.

Albus had tested them himself, and reluctantly agreed, despite the warnings of his intuition.

Of course, it helped that Quirrell had finally fallen prey to the curse on the DADA position and died in the Forbidden Forrest while looking for some troublemaking students earlier this morning.

Still…..

Out of the seven hundred and ninety-six students who had entered Hogwarts last September, seventy-three of them could no longer use magic at all. 

Thirty-seven students were reduced to barely able to cast a spell, but retained enough magic to make Potions or power Runes or Arithmanic Formulae. 

An additional hundred and eleven students had sustained extensive damage to their magical cores and would never grow in magical power beyond what they managed in the next eighteen months or so.  Some of the students had been sixteen or seventeen, so this final category wasn’t such a tragedy for them.  Most of the students had been First Year through Third Years, however, and Magical Maturity didn’t truly begin until about fourteen for witches and fifteen for wizards.

So much potential, _lost_.

Out of the seven hundred and ninety-six students left in his care last September, _two hundred and twenty-one_ _of them had come to permanent harm_.

_How had this happened?_

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Harry’s breathing was even in his sleep as Reborn carefully observed the steady rise and fall of the young Sky’s chest.

“Back again, Reborn?” Verde muttered as the Lightning Arcobaleno slipped inside the room as well.

Reborn ignored the question, “Did you find anything?” He asked quietly.

Verde rolled his eyes, but answered anyway. “He’s not sick in the same manner Luce was- it’s not the Pacifier that’s doing it.  Something- _the thing in his scar_ \- is trying to drain him.  Best that I can tell is that it’s like a leech, but the Pacifier is stronger and isn’t letting it ‘leech’ off of Harry, so his body is getting sick from being torn between the two forces.”

“That’s a bit more subjective than what you usually deal in, Verde.” Reborn snarked nastily.

“Enough, Reborn-sempai!” Skull whispered harshly, squirming out of Harry’s grip and glaring at Reborn fiercely.  “Harry’s magic makes this a little different, but we already knew something wasn’t right with that stupid scar!  Verde’s been working on a way to remove it without hurting him, but he was fine until you all decided to be a bunch of _jerks_!”

“Maybe we would have responded better had you not hid our Sky from us!” Reborn snapped back harshly.

Harry moaned and blinked sleepily, “’Kull.  ‘Rde.?”  He blinked a few more times and swallowed lazily, “R-Reborn?  What are you guys doing awake?”

All three Arcobaleno looked guilty, “Sorry, Harry!” Skull chirped as he hopped back down and snuggled back up to the boy, “We were just discussing Verde’s latest findings.”

“Verde should be _asleep_.” Harry grumped as he closed his eyes and buried his face in Skull’s hair, “I’m gonna die anyways.  So, it’s happen’ a little early.  Who cares?”

Harry’s breathing evened out back into sleep fairly quickly after that.

Skull’s eyes were wide open and teary as he glared at Reborn.  “ _This_.”  He choked out, “ _This_ is why we didn’t tell you _jerks_.”

Reborn left the room without saying a word.  When he passed Colonnello by the door, he just tipped his fedora down to cover his eyes and continued down the hall.

Colonnello tugged his bandanna down to shade his eyes and walked in the opposite direction.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Lal Mirch watched Skull chase Harry around the yard and smiled softly.

As angry as she still was that she’d been kept out of the loop and being needlessly worried, she was…….happy.

It was the last day of the summit and she dearly wanted to part on amicable terms with her new Sky.  Oh, Harry didn’t actually hold any ill-will towards her or Colonnello or Reborn, but her apology had been interrupted and she had her pride, _dammit_.

She was mentally composing her new and improved apology, ( _she was not stalling, dammit_!), when Reborn walked out onto the porch with the other Arcobaleno.

“Harry, Skull.”  Fon called in a friendly tone, “Would you come here please?”

“Sure!” Harry called back with a grin, deftly swinging Skull up onto his shoulder and bounding over to the porch.  “What’s up?”

“Have a seat, Harry.” Viper said instead,  “And drink something before you become dehydrated.”

Harry rolled his eyes in fond exasperation but complied with Viper’s demand, handing a glass of water to Skull as well.

“Harry,” Fon spoke after a few moments of everyone settling around the patio table, “We’re a bit concerned.”

The young Sky’s eyes narrowed from atop the rim of his water glass, “ _Oh_?” He said in a deceptively mild voice.

Colonnello rolled his blue eyes and decided to be blunt. “We don’t like that you hid from us, kora!”  Harry opened his mouth to protest, but Colonnello held up a hand to cut him off, “We get it, we do.  But it doesn’t change the fact that you’re our Sky and we couldn’t find you!  Then we find you and there’s something inside your head that’d trying to kill you, kora!”

Harry’s eyes darkened and he absently cuddled Skull, (who was glaring daggers at Colonnello).

“What I’m saying, kora!”  Colonnello hurried to explain, “Is that we don’t like the thought of you being so far away from Verde or Reborn in case you need medical attention, kora!”

“Which is why we’d like you to take my and Verde’s locations into account when you’re planning your travels.” Reborn broke in smoothly.

Harry blinked, “So,” He said slowly, “You’re not going to try to shove me in a stuffy school or make me a Mafia Boss or anything boring like that?”

Reborn smirked, (artfully ignoring the Mafia Boss comment), and smoothly replied, “I would if I felt you were slacking, but the Lackey is actually doing a fairly good job as a tutor.”

“ _Oi_!” Skull cried out indignantly.

“He is a good tutor!  He teaches me just about everything” Harry gushed enthusiastically, waving his hands around for emphasis as his green eyes sparkled with delight.  “Viper helps me with my consumer maths stuff, though.  She’s _awesome_ at that type of thing!  Verde’s my science and higher maths tutor- he even makes it _interesting_!  And Fon helps me with my Chinese!  Do you have _any idea_ how many different ways there are to speak Chinese even if it’s written the same way?!  _It’s crazy_!  I mean there was this one time in Ji-“

“Alright, alright we get it, kora!” Colonnello laughed, a bit miffed that he hadn’t gotten to tutor the young Sky in anything before he remembered that the boy still had many things to learn.  (He did feel a bit better about reading the same irritation in Reborn and Lal, though.)

“Basically, Harry.” Reborn continued smoothly.  “If you make another big journey like you did when you crossed the Pacific, then you’d take Verde with you, as he is unaffiliated and can disappear for longer periods of time than I can.  Otherwise, we’d like you to stay within a few hours’ worth of flight-time to us, in case your situation drastically worsens.”

Harry’s brows furrowed in thought.  “Well, it’s early summer and since Fon had to go back to the Triads for their summer camp-thing, so Skull and I were thinking of sailing around towards Italy, but we didn’t want to pass Africa.  I’d really like to see Antarctica, but we’d need an experienced Captain for that.” Harry pouted.  “We’re not sure where we’re spending the summer just yet, actually.”

“ _Antarctica_?” Lal Mirch asked skeptically.

Harry grinned at her and nodded vigorously, “I wanna see the Polar Bears!  And Pengiuns!  And build an Igloo!”  He finished with a cheer.

(Lal was a military woman through-and-through, but she really wanted to cuddle her baby Sky right about then.)

“How about leaving that ship of yours with me and going to Italy for the summer, kora?”  Colonnello spoke up suddenly, rushing to continue when he saw the looks he was getting.  “I know it’s kind of your floating homestead, but Verde’s building a whole bunch of new tech for it anyway, right kora?” 

Verde nodded.

Colonnello grinned, “See?  You spend the summer or maybe even part of the fall in _Italia_ with Reborn and Lal while Verde does his science-y magic.” Colonnello looked entirely pleased with his pun as Harry and Skull snickered.

Lal whacked him over the head.

“ _Ow_ , Lal!”  Colonnello pouted at her but continued, “As I was saying, you stay in _Italia_ and then Verde can upgrade your ship when the island comes by Italy in the fall.  See, I oversee Mafia Land- which basically the ultimate neutral ground for upstanding Mafia Famiglia, kora.”

Harry leaned forward, interested.  “Really?  Is there like a special code or something?”

The Rain Arcobaleno grinned, ‘”Yup, kora!  You see, to be invited you have to abide by the old code of not involving civilians, not running drugs, not being involved in human trafficking- things like that, kora!”

“Oh, wow!  I had _no idea_ that there were rules like that!”  Harry said, wide-eyed.

“They’re the old rules.”  Reborn interjected quietly.  “There was a time when the Mafia was more of a resistance movement or a vigilante style of group rather than a dirty criminal organization.  It is said that the Vongola- the Famiglia I am loosely allied with- started as a vigilante group against the oligarchy system of government near the middle of the thirteenth century.  Vongola Secondo’s efforts are actually responsible for the banking accountability that was implemented near the turn of the fourteenth century that helped stabilize the economy and move _Italia_ towards a unified state of government.”

“Wow.”  Harry said again, still wide-eyed, as he took in this new information.  “I had _no idea_ that the Italian Mafia had such awesome beginnings.  What happened?”

“People and power.” Viper said shortly.  “Power goes to their heads and they begin to lose sight of the original goals.  In times of crisis the balance swings back towards its roots, but in times of peace the Mafia tends to get drunk off its own importance.”

“Essentially.” Fon admitted.  “It happens with the Triads as well.”

“Human nature.” Verde muttered dismissively.

“Anyways.” Colonnello interjected brightly, “Since I am the protector of Mafia Land, I can house your ship there while you stay in Italy, kora!  It is actually an island that moves along a pre-planned path.  I knew of magicals because Mafia Land was warded against them during the Second World War by the previous Mist Arcobaleno, and I received their notes about it- _only if you agree to an Arcobaleno Favor, Viper!_ \- when I took over the island’s protection, kora!”

“How does the island move?” Harry asked curiously.

“I really can’t answer that with everyone present.” Colonnello said uncomfortably.  “I can tell you, because you’re the Sky- but-“

Harry shook his head and waved his hands around frantically, “No, no!  That’s alright!  I was just curious since nonmagical technology really only advanced in the last century or so and it’s a _traveling island_!”

Colonnello relaxed and grinned at Harry cheekily, “I can tell you that it is a mix of Flame Tech and magic and luck, kora!  Anyways, by the time fall gets here the island will be circling back around for the _Italia_ stop, which would make upgrading the ship a lot easier, _and_ you wouldn’t have to worry about sailing around Africa, kora!”

“It would be more convenient to have the ship near my lab.” Verde pointed out pragmatically.  “Also, with you nearby, I could have you make runs into Diagon Alley if I needed new materials without wasting an excessive amount of time.”

“It would also be easier to keep an eye on your health if I were able to better familiarize myself with your habits and overall condition.” Reborn helpfully added.

Harry rolled his eyes and huffed in amusement as he saw Viper open her mouth, “Alright, _alright_!  Italy for the summer it is!  Sheesh!”

“That is all well and good.” Fon put forth serenely, but his eyes were shining with contentment, “But _where_ , exactly, in Italy is Harry going first?”

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Harry and Skull ended up going back to Xiamen to unlock the Wards on the ship so that it could be docked on the Protector’s Port of Mafia Island.

(Actually, Harry had an entourage of _everyone_ , and eventually became so irritated with the squabbling that he keyed them all into the Wards to shut them all up.  Looking back, he figured that was probably their intention all along.  Manipulative _jerks_ \- _yes, Fon, even you_.)

After that they flew out from Mafia Island, (after saying goodbye to Colonnello and Fon), and settled in for the flight back to Italy.

“Alright,” Reborn said to Harry, Verde, and Skull.  (Lal was flying the jet and Viper was co-piloting for her, but they were listening in through the headsets.)  “As far as the rest of the Mafia world knows, the Boss of the Giglio Nero Famiglia still holds the Sky Pacifier.  We didn’t correct this assumption because the Giglio Nero Boss has held the Sky Pacifier for nearly eighty years, and everyone merely assumed that Aria took up her mother’s burden.”

Harry nodded agreeably, “They’re a powerful Famiglia, aren’t they?”

Reborn nodded, “Luce chose to take on the cursed infant form to buy time for Aria to grow up before taking on her burden.  Aria is now the Giglio Nero Nono, and out of the nine generations, four Bosses have held the Sky Pacifier, most notably their Primo.”

“Wow.  That’s quite a distinction.” Skull commented appreciatively.

“Indeed.” Viper interjected mildly.

“Since you have no desire to be actively involved in the Mafia, Harry.” Reborn said continued levelly, “It might be best to allow us to perpetuate this fabrication of the truth.”

“That is what I would suggest as well.” Lal agreed through the headset.  “It would allow the Giglio Nero to enjoy the stability that comes from people thinking that Aria is Sky Arcobaleno, and it would also provide you with an additional layer of protection.”

“Aria also has her Famiglia to protect her.” Reborn added supportively.  “The Giglio Nero are not small by any means, and they adore her greatly.”

“Won’t that put her in danger, though?” Harry asked concernedly, biting his lip in consternation.

“We were already looking after her,” Reborn assured him.  “Luce was….a dear friend.  The Famiglia I am loosely affiliated with is allied with them as well, so I am already known to her as an ‘Uncle’.”

“The rest of us also have various degrees of contact with her and her Famiglia.” Lal reassured Harry.  “My employer included.”

Harry grimaced, “I really don’t enjoy the thought of making someone else a target in my place, but if you think that the benefits outweigh the cost, then it’s fine with me.”

“They do.” Reborn’s voice was full of satisfied relief.  “Thank you, Harry.  I would prefer for you to take your place as the Arcobaleno Boss, of course, but if you won’t, then I appreciate you allowing Aria to benefit from this deception.”

“I’m no one’s Boss, Reborn.” Harry said with a lopsided grin.  “I’m just me, and not very good at that some days.”

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Landing in Tivoli, Italy, had been uneventful, and they had gone their separate ways.

The Vongola’s operations were centered in Naples, while the CEDEF was based out of Bari.  The Giglio Nero were mostly based in Catania, out of Sicily.

That wasn’t to say that their influence only extended to those cities, just that those cities were where their main bases were located.

So, Reborn had headed to Naples and Lal had headed to Bari.  Viper had headed to the Varia estate, (they were more than happy to plead ignorance to its location).  The lab that Verde was using for his magical experiments was located in Matera, so that was where he headed.

Skull and Harry had decided that they would head towards Rome, where Reborn and Lal would meet up with them once they reported in and freed up some time.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

“ _Please_ , Skull.” Harry begged the Cloud Arcobaleno from his position by the toilet that night.  “Don’t call them.  It’s not getting any worse, it’s just the same.  There’s _nothing_ that they can do at this point.  They’ll just worry.”

Skull’s lips compressed into a thin, displeased line.  “ _Harry_ …”

“You can call Verde.”  Harry allowed after another coughing fit had him spitting globs of blood into the toilet bowl.  “And of course Viper or she’ll kill us _both_.  But Fon is out of contact, and Reborn, Lal, and Colonnello still aren’t all that keen on me- they’re mostly just happy that Aria isn’t the one holding the Pacifier.  So, _please_ , Skull, don’t call them.”

The purple haired baby sighed and ran a stressed hand through his hair.  “I’m calling Verde and Viper.”  He finally muttered as he padded out of the room, Harry’s renewed coughing fit echoing off the walls behind him.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

 _Do you idiots have any idea how badly you’ve fucked up?_   Skull snarled inside his head as he dialed Viper _.  Your intentions were good- the best- but the way you worded thing made him take everything the opposite of the way you meant them.  Dammit_.  _Dammit to fucking hell_.


	5. Displaced

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Terrible attempt to use Numerology as justification for a complex system later on in this chapter.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Harry  and Skull spent a fun week traipsing around Rome.

They explored fountains and churches and went to listen to the choirs, but eventually they had to decide where to go from there.

Reborn and Lal had both called to tell them that they were unable to get any more time off due to a major incident that was occurring within their respective Famiglia.  Verde was compiling a list of things that needed to be picked up in Diagon Alley, but it would be a few more weeks before he wanted to make the supply run.  Fon was out of touch due to summer training camp with the Triads, and Colonnello was busy with his Mafia Land duties.

Then, on their final day in Rome, Viper called.

“You should go with her, Skull!”  Harry insisted for the nth time.  “You’re her best bet for back up!”

“You’re having an incident at least every other night!”  Skull snapped back.  “Viper needs me less than you do!”

Harry huffed angrily and gracefully knelt in front of the purple-haired baby.  “I’m _fine_.  I always knew this was going to happen!  Viper _needs_ you!  _Please_ , Skull?”

Skull’s cheeks puffed out as he tried to come up with a good counter argument.  Unfortunately, when Harry’s eyes went all teary and his bottom lips quivered traitorously, all Skull wanted to do was make things better.  Skull scrubbed a hand through his hair.  “Will you _swear_ to call me if you get any sicker?”

“I swear!” Harry chirped brightly, snatching Skull up and twirling him around in an exuberant hug.  “Viper never would have asked for back up unless she really needed it, Skull!  Thank you!”

The Cloud Arcobaleno sighed heavily and snuggled further into Harry’s embrace.  “You need me too.” Skull muttered mutinously.

Harry paused long enough to tap Skull on the cheek, causing the cursed man to look up at him.  “You’re right.  I do.  But Viper needs you too, and I’m really happy that you’re going to help her.”

“Reborn-sempai is going to kill me.” Skull moaned.

“Bah.”  Harry rejoined brilliantly, “I’m not a _baby_.”

Skull’s unimpressed stare was a work of art.  “Ha.  _Ha_.”

Harry grinned unrepentantly, “I’m _not_!  Anyways, I’ll just make my way towards Verde’s lab in Matera.  There are lots of orphanages and sights for me to see on the way!  And it’s summer!  I’ll be fine!”

“Well, I suppose I could give you homework to keep you out of mischief.”  Skull mused pensively.

Harry spluttered indignantly, “It’s _summer_!”

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

 _It’s been a long time since I’ve felt lonely_.  Harry mused to himself as he watched the scenery pass by through the bus window, having just seen Skull off earlier that day.  He was now traveling by himself from Rome towards Matera, and was expected to check in with Skull, Viper, and Verde periodically.

He actually felt somewhat better today, though he’d had to grab some sunglasses at the last stop, due to his headache.  No, what surprised Harry was how lonely he felt without Skull beside him.

When he had first set out from the Dursleys, Harry had expected to spend the rest of his time on Earth alone.  Yet, he’d met Skull not even six months into his trip, and the purple haired baby had been a constant companion ever since.

Harry didn’t regret sending Skull to back up Viper- _any mission that seemed tough enough for Viper to request backup had to be dangerous_ \- but he could admit to himself that he dearly missed Skull’s company.

No, the feeling of loss was something he wasn’t expecting.

It was as if he suddenly couldn’t move an arm, but could still feel it or something.  It was strange and uncomfortable for the young Potter, who was acutely aware that his time was growing shorter by the day.

His chest tightened and Harry grimaced as he tried to tamp down on the urge to cough.  Bringing a hand up to massage at his chest, he had a sudden epiphany.

Harry was resigned to his fate.  That much was certain.

However, his death would necessitate the crowning of a new Sky Arcobaleno, and Harry refused to put his Arcobaleno through that- not when he was their _second_ Sky.

He fisted his hand in his shirt and hardened his resolve.

“I swear.”  He murmured to the glass window of the air conditioned bus.  “I swear that I’ll find a way to free you.”

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Harry had purposefully slowed down his travel plans after his epiphany.

He made sure to go over his book that he’d received from Uncle Kawahira with an especially sharp eye, looking for any crumbs of information that he might have missed.

The young Potter didn’t think that Uncle Kawahira actually _enjoyed_ cursing people with the Arcobaleno Curse, but the man had explained _why_ it was necessary the night that he’d presented Harry the Sky Pacifier.

The Arcobaleno were the basis, the core of the Tri-ni-Set, which Uncle Kawahira was responsible for.  Harry didn’t know what the other two parts of it were made of, but he knew from Uncle Kawahira’s explanations, (and his book), that the Pacifiers were the grounding aspect of the entire thing.

Harry thought that maybe Uncle Kawahira had just resigned himself to the Arcobaleno curse being the only option and had stopped looking for alternatives along the way.  It reminded Harry of his history lessons, and the way people tended to accept things that they couldn’t understand or explain.

 _Well_ , Harry thought determinedly as he idly scripted another alternative scenario in his newly purchased spiral notebook, _I’ll just have to change that._

One of the things that Skull and Verde had found that they had in common was writing out their thoughts. 

Skull kept a journal of scenarios that ranged from ‘What to do in the event of a zombie apocalypse that can only be cured by the last cake on Earth’ to ‘How to survive if the world was suddenly taken over by alien dinosaurs tomorrow’.  Granted, those were just the extremist scenarios, but Skull had taught Harry how therapeutic it could be to write out his thoughts.  What had surprised Harry was that despite the zany silliness of a lot of the fake situations, Skull tended to come up with creative, viable solutions in them.  That was, Skull had explained cheerfully, was the entire point.  Having fun and stretching the brain into thinking creatively helped him come up with new, unexpected strategies that he could use in real life.

Verde’s journal-keeping skills were more related to jotting down observations or questions that popped up.  The Lightning Arcobaleno had explained that it helped keep his mind clear to focus on his current projects without worrying about forgetting something that he wanted to look into deeper or had noticed.

Harry, through introspection and observation, was assuming that the strain of the Arcobaleno Curse was proportional to the size of the body or something.  It probably had to do with Flame output or conserving mass or something technical like that. 

He, as the Sky Arcobaleno, knew that the Sky Arcobaleno was not usually cursed into an infant form, but they lived shorter lives than the Elements who were cursed into the infant form.  Skies tended to be born to corresponding bloodlines, but were still rare, so that sort of made sense. 

 _If they couldn’t grow up and have kids, then the Skies would eventually die out_.  Harry reasoned as he tapped his pencil against his lip thoughtfully.   _They’re still pretty rare though, and I’m guessing that it might also have something to do with the ‘Harmony’ factor of Sky Flames as well_.

So Harry reasoned that the main issue that he needed to solve into was finding a way to power the Pacifiers and keep them protected.  Knowing _who_ would protect the Pacifiers would also help him decide _how_.

Harry stretched like a feline and settled himself a bit more comfortably against the tree he was reclining against as he laid his head back against the trunk and observed the park he was sitting in.   Children ran about giggling and playing while parents and caretakers chatted and swapped gossip at nearby picnic tables.

Lazy emerald eyes took in the interactions without really processing them as his mind flitted between random thoughts, most pertaining to his new goal.  It had been two weeks since he’d let Rome, and while Skull, Viper, and Verde respected his independence they were starting to become exasperated by his pace to reach Matera and Verde’s Lab.

Harry absently noted something as his gaze passed over it, and he’d nearly dismissed it before his brain caught up to his eyes and he blinked slowly as his mind presented him with a radical supposition.

 ** _Oh_**.

The boy was struck dumb for a few more moments, just owlishly blinking in wonder, before he scrambled into a position better suited for writing and let his thoughts tumble rapidly onto the lined paper.  His heart was racing and he was grinning like an idiot but he didn’t care because-because-

 _It was a stab in the dark, but it might work_. 

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Harry sat on his bed in the hotel room he’d rented for the night and clutched his Pacifier.  “Uncle Kawahira?” He said softly.  “Uncle Kawahira may I speak with you?”

The young teen felt like an idiot, but was rewarded for his leap of faith a few minutes later when Uncle Kawahira, in his Checker Face disguise, stepped out of the shadows, head tilted to the side in inquiry.

Harry smiled at the man, warm and bright and welcoming, “Hello, Uncle Kawahira!  I have some questions for you and some- well, you’ll see.”  The boy thrust a spiral notebook towards Kawahira and started chattering excitedly, “I know it needs a _lot_ of work, but-“

(Children have an amazing capacity for the impossible, simply because they refuse to believe in foolish things such as limits or ‘it’s always been done this way’.

Adults become so wrapped up in _how, why, when_ , and _can’t_ that they forget that child-like simplicity of _I will_ and overcomplicate matters.

This applies to millennia-old True Earthborn as well.)

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Kawahira shook his head as stepped back into his home.

 _Out of the mouths of babes_.  He thought ruefully.  Though, if he was being honest with himself, he’d admit to the awe and the hope that was bubbling up inside of him.

Harry’s plan needed work and a lot of luck, but it was well thought-out and more importantly, _credible_.

Kawahira thoughtfully regarded the items that he had collected over the years and thought back to what Harry had told him at the very end.

 _Green eyes had seared into Kawahira’s own dark ones, “I won’t die without finding a way to free them.  I won’t.”  Harry had declared fiercely_.

Sadly, Kawahira could feel a resolve in the boy that many humans never experienced.  It was _sad_ , because despite the resolve, Harry’s eyes showed that he knew that _his_ end would be death- yet he was willing to throw himself into finding a cure for his Arcobaleno wholeheartedly.

When was the last time Kawahira had come across such a humble human?

 _Ah, well, I might as well let him try_.  Kawahira thought wryly.  _Worst comes to worst, Harry fails and the system has to be continued_.  The Mist user grinned as he planned his next move.  O _nly the dead and fools stop moving forward, eh, Sepira?_

Kawahira swore he heard the bell-like laugh of his best friend on the winds as he opened the shop’s windows to let some fresh air inside.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Harry finally arrived at Verde’s Lab in Matera about three and a half weeks after he and Skull had split up.

(Skull and Viper had been getting testy about how long he was taking and Harry also didn’t want Verde to think that he was avoiding him, or he might have taken even longer to arrive as the Sky Arcobaleno was fully immersed in his new project.  However, he also knew that he couldn’t afford to fall behind in his schoolwork, and he _was_ starting to feel rather lonely without Skull to fill the silence with his cheerful chatter.)

Of course, because he _had_ taken three and a half weeks to get there, Verde had decided that he had a big enough list of materials that he needed from Diagon Alley and had put himself and Harry on a plane to England about a half hour after Harry had arrived.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Verde had once again made the disguises, and they slipped into the Alley with little fanfare.

Though it was rather easy for the sharp scientist and well-travelled teen to see the almost visible pall the Alley seemed to be under.  There was nothing in the conversations that clued the duo in to this heaviness, but rather it was the forced cheer and overly exaggerated exuberance that the Alley residents seemed to exude

In fact, the sense of _wrongness_ disturbed them so much they ended up having to backtrack a few times because they _forgot_ items, which was entirely unlike the methodical Verde.

Harry also noted that the longer he spent in the Alley, the more fatigued he became.  His condition worsened until Verde parked him at the ice cream parlor and went off to complete the shopping excursion himself.

Fortunately Verde was able to navigate the Alley fairly easily, and the man hadn’t lived as long as he had, (especially in the Mafia), without learning how to blend in, so there were no major issues- even in the places that Verde ventured into in Knocturn Alley.

All in all, _both_ Arcobaleno were incredibly happy to escape the magical shopping district.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

According to Uncle Kawahira the Arcobaleno Pacifiers required an almost _absurd_ amount of very condensed or pure Flame to sustain them. 

(Harry had felt a great amount of accomplishment when Uncle Kawahira had confirmed some of his guesses.)

Part of the reason the Arcobaleno Elements were reduced in mass upon being Cursed was to compress the Flame so that the Pacifier could be supplied with its required quantity of Flame while still leaving the Arcobaleno with enough Flame so that they could protect the Pacifier. 

They weren’t really _babies_ , the man had told Harry, they were more akin to _compressed_ _adults_.  It was how they still had the strength of their adult bodies in their Cursed form.  Occasionally some of them would unexpectedly have an adverse reaction- like Reborn’s slight lisp- as the Curse did essentially shut down their reproductive impulses, but for the most part they were simply reduced in _mass_ , not _age_.

The reason why the Sky Arcobaleno could circumvent this was due to the Harmony factor of Sky Flames.  It was also because if the Sky Arcobaleno could not reproduce, eventually Skies would go from ‘rare’ to ‘extinct’, which would not do anyone any good.  The trade-off for not being in the Cursed form, however, was a greatly reduced lifespan- so they _still_ weren’t getting away from the consequences of not being shrunk down like the Elements.

(Harry had blushed like a cherry at the thought of ‘reproductive impulses’, but he’d been incredibly grateful for the information and had thanked Uncle Kawahira repeatedly.

Uncle Kawahira had shrugged and said that he’d only been so forthcoming with Harry since the teen had kept his identity secret by choice, instead of activating the failsafe that Kawahira had left which would prevent Harry from divulging the information.  That and Harry had guessed pretty close to the truth on his own, which was much closer than anyone had gotten to the truth in quite a long while.

The Sky Arcobaleno had shrugged and told the man that he was still grateful to him, despite everything, and he’d never put someone he cared about in danger like that.  Also, Verde and Skull were excellent tutors.

Uncle Kawahira had shook his head and laughed in disbelief. 

Harry had still been slightly offended that the other had ever thought that Harry would spill the secret of his identity.)

All of the confirmed evidence had told Harry that whatever system he designed to hold the Pacifiers would need to stand up to an ludicrous amount of extremely condensed Flames and there was still the matter of _who_ would guard the crazy thing and _where_ to build it to consider.

Harry sat in his room at the mansion that sat atop Verde’s Lab and tapped his pencil against his lip thoughtfully as he stared at his newest design.  He’d sketched out numerous ideas regarding the scheme that would need to be built to support the Flames and the Pacifiers.  He had considered everything from a series of jars or boxes to all manner of containers.  He’d even pestered Verde to teach him about containers and support systems during their tutoring sessions in an effort to better understand what he needed.

Harry had nearly despaired more than once, (and nearly had a mini-meltdown a few days ago when he’d accidentally ruined one of Verde’s experiments), but his burning desire to see his Arcobaleno free had helped strengthen his flagging resolve.

Green eyes narrowed thoughtfully as he considered his newest design. 

_What am I missing?  There’s a piece I’m still missing that would tie it all together and until I find it nothing is going to work._

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Harry’s thirteenth birthday was an auspicious day.

The day started off with a birthday breakfast that was made better by Verde’s presence.  (Thankfully one of Verde’s minions had cooked- excellent scientist he might be, Verde could not cook anything edible to save his life.)  Which was a pleasant surprise for Harry as the man had been all but glued to his labs since their trip to Diagon- even Harry’s lessons took place down there nowadays.

(Not that he minded, Verde in his element was a sight to behold!)

Harry and the Lightning Arcobaleno spent most of the morning together, talking and going over future plans, but eventually Harry shooed the other off, as it was obvious that Verde was itching to get back to his work.

“I appreciate you having breakfast with me and hanging out with me, Verde.”  Harry laughed as he carried the scientist towards the door to the lab, “But you should get back down there!  I know you’ve got some pretty fragile experiments going on!  I’ll be fine, I might go for a walk or something later, but I’ll drag you out of the Lab this evening and we’ll go out for dinner, alright?”

Verde gave Harry a soft smile.   _This is what it means to have a Sky._ The man thought somewhat giddily.  _Someone who is willing to meet you halfway and truly understands you._ “Are you sure?  You had a pretty bad episode last night-”  Verde asked one last time, just to confirm that Harry was truly alright with him working on the teen’s birthday and wasn’t trying to hide his condition.

Harry rolled his eyes good-naturedly and opened the door to the lab as he sat Verde back on the floor and crouched down in front of him, “Get in before I _toss_ you in, you _mad_ _scientist_!”

Verde gave him his best ‘evil scientist’ laugh and strolled inside, delighting in the peals of glee the teen broke into as he did so.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Skull and Viper had called a few days ago to wish him a happy birthday as they were finally moving in on whoever Viper’s target was, and they would be out of touch until the mission was complete.  Colonnello was busy with Mafia Land and who-knows-where right now.  Reborn and Lal didn’t know when his birthday was and were still swamped with work for their respective Famiglia, and Fon was still in the midst of the Triad’s summer training camp.  So Harry truly did appreciate Verde’s thoughtfulness, but understood that the Lightning Arcobaleno was busy.

The Sky Arcobaleno grabbed his ‘special project’ notebooks and decided to follow through with his walk idea, as his intuition was stirring and he _knew_ something important was about to happen. 

Honestly, he really just wanted to curl up in bed as his condition was worsening by the day and now his whole body ached like he had a particularly nasty cold _all the time_.  However, Harry knew that it was only going to get worse and that Skull would most likely fuss over him when the Cloud Arcobaleno returned, so he’d try to push past the unpleasantness and enjoy today.

Verde’s Lab was towards the outskirts of Matera, but not so far out that it was entirely isolated, so after about an hour and a half of aimless ambling, Harry was inside the main part of the city, enjoying the sights.

Harry had been a lot of places, but there was a certain charm in Italy’s architecture that he _adored_.  The terracotta brickwork next to more modern buildings was a delight to witness, as were the random statues and stone bridges that littered the country.

Though he was thankful for the awnings most of the stores had as it allowed him brief respites along his journey.  Italy was also hot and humid, especially this close to the Aegean Sea.

He nipped inside a few quaint looking stores and bought a few trivial items as well as making a few mental notes to come back with a car or something, as he wanted to do some shopping for the ship in a few of them.

He stopped for lunch at an out-of-the-way bistro around midday, and was looking for a quiet park to take a nap in when he stumbled in the middle of what appeared to be a Mafia turf war.

 _They have Flame users._   Harry thought worriedly, as he tried to edge away, (and wondering why in the world his intuition hadn’t warned him about something like this, as it had gotten pretty sharp during his travels).  _They haven’t noticed me yet, so maybe I can-_

An ominous chill filled the air and the sound of rattling chains echoed through the street as the fighters went absolutely motionless before trying to flee in terror.

They didn’t get very far though, as chains shot out from the shadows and wrapped around all of them- Harry included.

 _This has got to be the Vindice_ , _the enforcers of Mafia Law_.  Harry thought worriedly, wondering at the guidance his intuition was providing him with.  _They must have grabbed me because I’m Flame Active and in the same area; they must think I’m with these guys._

Three bandaged individuals who wore top hats and tattered dark blue cloaks stepped out of a dark portal that appeared in the middle of the street.  They were entirely bandaged, as a matter of fact, without a single scrap of skin showing- even their eyes were covered!  Some of the cloaks were styled more like old-fashioned tuxedo jackets, while the others were more flowing and cloak-like.

The terrifying part was that there was only _three_ of them, and they had easily subdued at least _thirty_ Mafiso, at least half of whom were Flame users.

Harry figured that he could use the Sky Pacifier to break free, as it was strapped to his leg under his clothes, but his intuition was nudging him to be patient, so he allowed himself to be pulled towards the frigid, foreboding portal without struggling or speaking up.

_I really hope this works out well or Skull is going to murder me.  Viper and Verde, too._

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

The Vindice had dragged them through the frigid, forbidding portal by the chains that they’d been bound in.  Once on the other side, ( _and it had been a very disorienting, scary trip_ ), the majority of them had been split off into two groups and dragged off by the ‘subordinate’ Vindice.

The tall bandaged Vindice who seemed to be the leader, (the others seemed to defer to him, though none of them had spoken), casually dragged Harry and two others forward through a set of uninviting double doors and down a long hallway to another, (even more uninviting looking), set of double doors and knocked firmly.  “ **I’ve brought the ringleaders, Lord Bermuda**.”  The Enforcer said in his gravely, grating voice.

“ **Bring them in, Jager**.”  The voice from the other side commanded sharply.

Harry was thankful that the chains were actually wrapped around him so much that they were protecting him from the floor.  _My intuition must be broken_ , he thought sourly as they were dragged inside.

Only to stop short at the sight of the baby with the _Clear Pacifier_ that was seated on the tall throne-like chair in the bleak chamber that they found themselves inside.

 _Why is his Pacifier not reacting to mine?_   Harry thought confusedly.  _The Sky Pacifier is strapped to my thigh._

The other two men were blubbering, quivering messes at this point, babbling nearly incoherently.

“ **Silence!** ”  The baby Vindice snapped.  “ **You have broken Mafia Law and will be punished accordingly**!”

Harry’s intuition prodded at him and Harry figured he might as well listen to it at this point.  “Um, actually I was just taking a walk.  I have no idea what’s going on.”

The tall Vindice tilted his head inquisitively and the baby looked at the other two.  “ **Is this true?** ”

One man nodded, but the other started screaming about how Harry was the mastermind of the whole event and forced him to participate.  Harry and the other man gave the babbling fool incredulous looks.

The air seemed to become even more frigid as the baby’s face took on a stormy expression, “ **You would _lie_ to me, fool**?”

The idiot had the sense to shut up and started cowering.

The baby turned towards Harry and gave him an appraising look, “ **How did you become caught up in this situation?** ”

Harry grinned ruefully, “I was taking a walk.  Actually, I’ve been wandering around most of the day- it’s my birthday!  I’m officially thirteen!- and I was following the directions the nice old man at the bistro I ate lunch in gave me towards a park so I could take a nap and I stumbled into the middle of whatever was going on.”

The Sky Arcobaleno made sure to keep eye contact with the baby Vindice as the other pinned him with a piercing stare and considered his story.  “ **Very well.** ”  The baby Vindice said at last, “ **Jager, return this boy to wherever he was found.** ”

Jager, the tall Vindice apparently, nodded.  “ **Yes, Lord Bermuda**.”

“Wait!”  Harry cried as his, (absolutely bloody mental) intuition twisted sharply.

“ **Yes**?”  The baby Vindice asked impatiently.

“I was just wondering why your Pacificer wasn’t reacting to me?”  Harry blurted out- to his absolute horror _.  I’m going to get myself killed!  Or locked up for the rest of my short life!  Skull’s going to murder me!  Viper’s going to charge me a fortune!  Verde’s going to build a cage for me!_

“ **Why would Lord Berumda’s Pacifier react to you, child**?”  Jager asked curiously as Bermuda looked at Harry oddly.

“I’m the Sky Arcobaleno.”  Harry replied, hurriedly adding, “My Pacifier is strapped to my left thigh, if you don’t believe me.”

Bermuda’s eyes narrowed and he stood from his throne-like chair, padding over to Harry and manipulating the chains until Harry was in a sitting position before ripping a hole in the teen’s jeans and staring down at the Sky Pacifier.  “ **Jager, put the other two in a holding cell while I speak with this boy.  Return when they have been secured**.”

“ **Yes, Lord Bermuda**.”

Bermuda stared up at Harry with a thoughtful frown, “ **How did you come to have this?** ”

“I received it when I was eight, after Miss Luce died.”  Harry explained to the baby Vindice, idly wishing his arms weren’t positioned behind his back so he could massage his chest- he was going to start coughing soon.  This frigid dankness was doing him no favors.

“ **The Man In The Iron Hat gave this to you when you were eight?** ”  Bermuda repeated, outrage lacing his tone.  “ **Did he even tell you what it was?** ”

Harry nodded, but before he could explain he was hit with a coughing fit.  The chains fell away from him so he could position himself on his knees and spit out the globs of blood that were bubbling up inside his mouth.

For the next few minutes the only sounds were Harry’s racking coughs and the distant sounds of water.

By the time the fit subsided Jager had returned and Bermuda was looking at him with a strange look on his face.  Harry wiped at his mouth a smiled weakly at the two, “Sorry about that.”

“ **Your health should not have deteriorated this badly yet, if you have only held the Pacifier for five years.  Were you sick prior to receiving the Pacifier?** ”  Bermuda asked in consternation.

“No, I’m a magical.”  Harry explained bluntly, “and a madman came after me when I was a baby and gave me this scar.”  He lifted his fringe and leaned forward so Bermuda could inspect it easier.  “About two months ago the scar started trying to actively siphon off my life force, but the Pacifier isn’t letting it.  Unfortunately, my body can’t handle the strain of being caught between the two forces and is failing faster than anticipated.  At least, that’s Verde and Reborn’s best analysis.”

Bermuda inspected the scar and Jager drifted closer to inspect it as well, while Harry continued.  “Mr. Checker Face told me that I’d be lucky to see thirty when he gave me the Pacifier, but- well, the people I lived with weren’t very nice to me and the Pacifier was the first thing I’d ever had that was _mine_.  I found the courage to live because I knew that my time was short- and I eventually found the Arcobaleno, and I couldn’t ask for a better family than them, even though some of them really don’t like me!” 

Harry smiled brightly at the two stunned Vindice.  “Don’t tell them but I’m working on a scheme so they’ll be free from their Curse when I die.”  His smiled softened and he dropped his hand from holding up his fringe and he picked at the edge of his t-shirt.  “I still have to figure out where the system is going to be built and I’m still missing something-“

“ **What system?** ”  Bermuda interrupted.  “ **What _scheme_ could a thirteen-year-old come up with to fix a centuries-old system, when the greatest minds of generations have been unable to resolve it**?”  Bermuda’s tone was cutting and his words were bitter, but Harry’s intuition warned him from reacting aggressively.

Harry smiled gently at the baby Vindice, “My bag was at the place I was taken from, if you could get it for me-“

Bermuda nodded crisply and Jager disappeared, reappearing momentarily with Harry’s bag and handing it to the teen.

The Sky Arcobaleno opened his bag and withdrew his ‘special project’ notebook and flipped to the relevant pages.  “I’m missing something, but this is my design.”  He said as he laid the notebook on the floor and rearranged himself so he was sitting cross-legged and a little ways away from his mess from his earlier coughing fit.

“ **It looks like a snowflake**.”  Jager mused.

Harry nodded enthusiastically.  “That’s because it is!  I went through tons of other designs, but I just _know_ this is the right one!”

“ **You said you were missing something**?”  Bermuda prompted expectantly as he studied the design.

“Yeah.”  Harry drooped a little, but he continued to explain.  “The idea is that the elements all intersect with the middle, where the Sky Flames are housed, and they branch out from there.”  Harry flipped the page.  “I’ve actually designed it to be layered, which is why finding a place to build it and people to guard it is going to be such a pain.”

The young Sky blew out an exhausted breath as the weight of the project once again crashed down on him.  He shook himself and soldiered on.  “The bottom snowflake- or the base- has 10 ‘branches’ or ‘stems’, if you’d prefer.  10 in numerology signifies testimony, law, responsibility and the completeness of order. 

In Biblical Numerology the number 4 is said to be the number of physical creation, and the number 6 to be the number of man- together they make 10.  In addition, 7 is also viewed as being associated with completeness and perfection, while 3 is a lesser form of 7, and also the first of the four spiritually perfect numerals- which are 3, 7, 10, and 12.”

Seeing as how the two Vindice were still listening, Harry continued.  “The ten ‘branches’ are made from five straight lines.  5 in Biblical Numerology stands for grace; since there are 5 intersecting lines, that makes it 5 to the second power, which is ‘grace upon grace’.”

“ **What are you using to power it?** ”  Bermuda queried.

Harry scrubbed a hand through his hair and sighed, “ _That’s_ the problem.  At the moment it’s based on Sky Flames, but it doesn’t feel right.  I don’t think that the Sky Flame’s Harmony factor could properly ground the second snowflake, when the center of the second one is where the Sky Flames Harmonize with the Elements.  I also don’t know what metal it needs to be made out of, since I don’t think Sky Flames will work.”

“ **Hmm, continue**.”  Bermuda ordered.

The Sky Arcobaleno felt weird continuing when he’d just admitted that his design had a _huge, potentially fatal flaw_ , but he decided to follow his, (still broken), intuition.  “The second snowflake is made up of six ‘branches’ or three intersecting lines.  The middle is where the Sky Flames are supposed to be housed, and each ‘branch’ will have four- well, adornments?  I guess- that are dotted along the sides that will allow the Sky Flames to circulate throughout the entire design.  Rain will be opposite to Cloud.  Storm will be opposite to Mist.  Lightning will be opposite to Sun.  I think this will work because 2 also represents union.  Well, it represents union, division, or the verification of facts by witnesses.  I’ve got the metals all planned out, and I’m sure that the Goblins of Gringotts or the Dwarves of _Dyrebar Skatt_ could give better insight when they are consulted for the construction of the project.”

Harry sat back and let the two Vindice absorb his words, as he gnawed at his bottom lip fretfully.  _What if they completely shut my design down?  I don’t think I could handle that after all the work I’ve poured into it.  Then again, I’ve also only been working on this millennia-old problem for a few months, but I don’t have much time left!  And it still has to be built!  And-_

“ **And this system would hold the Pacifiers?** ”  Bermuda questioned attentively.

“O-oh, yeah.  It would.”  Harry tried to reorient himself from his chaotic thoughts.

Bermuda nodded decisively.  “ **I know of a way that you can ground the first snowflake, but I have a condition.** ”

Harry tipped his head towards the leader of the Vindice curiously.  “Oh?”

“ **It must be built here, at the Vindicare and the Vindice will be given the task of guarding the Pacifiers.** ”

The teen blinked owlishly a few times.  “You _want_ to guard them?  But don’t you have enough to do?”  He asked confusedly.

Jager reached inside of his cloak and pulled out a stone Pacifier.  “ **We were all Arcobaleno once**.”

The Sky Arcobaleno was suddenly sick to his stomach.  “Oh- I didn’t-I mean-“

Jager waved a hand dismissively, “ **You’ve done nothing wrong, little Sky**.”

“ **Our goal has always been to have our revenge on the Man In The Iron Hat by taking control of the Pacifiers away from him.”** Bermuda stated ardently **.  “This scheme of yours would grant us that, so we will fix the issue you have with the grounding snowflake if you agree to our terms**.”

Harry’s green eyes took on a sharp look.  “You’ll use your special Vindice Flames.”

“ **Yes**.”

“Will it hurt you?”

Bermuda blinked bemusedly.  “ **No.  I can produce plenty of Flames.”**

“So only _you_ can produce them, then.”  Harry mused thoughtfully.  Bermuda’s eyes flashed dangerously as the tone of the room turned ominous, but Harry ignored it.  “Can I give you some of mine, then?”

“ ** _What?_** ”

“Well, Sky Flames have the Harmony factor, so I should be able to give you some of mine, right?”

“ **You are the most confusing child I’ve ever met**.”  Bermuda groused in exasperation.

Harry laughed brightly and both Vindice felt warmth dance over them as the teen’s Flame flared brilliantly and spiraled through the room. 

Behind his bandages Jager closed his eyes in appreciation.  He’d never had a Sky when he had been alive, but this child’s Flame was warm and welcoming and it eased the constant _aches_ that plagued him.

Bermuda, similarly, reveled in the warmth and acceptance that the young Sky’s Flame held.

Harry’s eyes were nearly glowing when he opened them and offered his hands to Bermuda.  “So I’ve been told.”  He snickered.  “ _Repeatedly_.”

Bermuda padded closer and placed his small hands into Harry’s, “ **Bring your Flames to the surface and I will do the rest**.”  He instructed and was nearly overwhelmed a moment later when those Flames from earlier returned tenfold.  The Sky Arcobaleno’s Flames burned through him like a fiery sense of home that warmed him all the way down to his frozen soul.  Bermuda was forced to channel more Flame than usual into his subordinates and he could hear the moment that they reached Jager because he heard the undead man’s breath catch.

 _How very strange that after living for revenge and vengeance all these years, our salvation would arrive in this brilliant young Sky._   Bermuda mused pensively as Harry continued to freely pour Sky Flames into the Vindice Arcobaleno.  _That he is accepting of his fate and wants to free the current Arcobaleno from their Curse makes me hate the Man In The Iron Hat and the current Arcobaleno more.  The Man In The Iron Hat for giving this bright young Sky the Pacifier, and the current Arcobaleno for not knowing how lucky they are._

Beside him, Jager’s thoughts were much the same.  Especially as Jager had _met_ some of the current Arcobaleno.  _They do not deserve him._   He thought spitefully as the soothing warmth flowed through him.  _There has never been a Sky who has survived the removal of their Pacifier as most of them die from illness, but I hope that a miracle will happen for him.  We would care for him properly._

The room was silent save for the sounds of breathing and the distant sounds of water, but eventually Harry’s breath began to grow heavy as he reached deeper into himself for more Flame.  “ **That’s enough**.”  Bermuda said decisively as he curled Harry’s fingers closed and gently patted his hands before withdrawing.  “ **There’s no need to tax yourself, child**.”

Harry’s expression grew mulish, “But I can still-“

Bermuda shook his head, “ **You’ve given me plenty of Flames, child.  Rest or you’ll make yourself sick and what would happen if you died before you could complete your project?** ”

The teen’s jaw clicked shut and he scowled at Bermuda.  “That was hitting below the belt.”  He whined childishly, pointing a finger at Bermuda accusingly.

“ **I regret nothing**.”  Bermuda deadpanned.

Harry gaped.  “You just made a joke!”  He accused.

“ **I do that on occasion**.”  Bermuda returned blandly.  “ **Jager will take you back now.  Leave the notebook with me, we will do the negotiating with the Goblins and the Dwarves.”**

“Do you often have contact with magicals?”  Harry inquired curiously.

“ **Not overly often with magicals humans, as magic tends to get in the way of Flame Activation- or they never realize that they _are_ Flame Active- but we are well known to the non-humans.”**

“That’s so _cool_!”  Harry crowed excitedly, bouncing a little in excitement.

He opened his mouth to ask more questions, but Bermuda made a hand gesture and Jager stepped forward.

Harry scowled- it looked more akin to a pout, really.

Bermuda and Jager laughed.

Harry’s smile turned soft.  “Fine!  You win!”  He grabbed his bag and stood, shaking his legs a little as he tried to work the pins-and-needles feling out.  “Can you drop me off a little closer to Verde’s lab?”  He asked Jager politely.

“ **Give me an area near it and I will.  Too close and he’ll sense me**.”

“Cool, thanks!”  Harry said gratefully as walked closer to the tall Vindice.  “It was great to meet you, Lord Bermuda!”

“ **Just Bermuda is fine, child**.”

Harry smiled gently at the Vindice Arcobaleno as Jager opened a portal “Come find me if you need more Flame!”  He called as they disappeared and the portal closed behind them.

Bermuda looked at the spot where the Sky Arcobaleno had been and shook his head.  _Six centuries and I have never met a Sky quite like that_.  He thought warmly as he gathered the materials Harry had left _.  Now to judge the idiots from earlier and get into contact with the Goblins and the Dwarves._

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

“ _Harry_!”  Skull cheered enthusiastically as he and Viper appeared in a swirl of Mist Flames.

“Skull!”  Harry called back excitedly.  “Viper!  I’m glad you’re both alright!  Oh, and Oodako and Fantasma, as well!”

Harry was working on dinner, but quickly finished what he was doing and swept across the kitchen to hug the two new arrivals.  “Are either of you wounded?  Are you tired- _you must be tired_!- did everything go alright?  Were-“

“Harry!”  Viper laughed, “We’re fine.”

“Yup!”  Skull interjected cheerfully, “But since _you’re_ cooking-“ He trailed off suggestively.

“Alright, alright- I get it!”  Harry joked good-naturedly as he sat both of them on the table, patting the two Partners affectionately before fluttering back over to continue what he was doing.  “You only love me for my food~.”  He called over his shoulder cheekily.

Skull vehemently denied such a thing and Viper smiled softly.

“Verde should be up here pretty soon, we were planning on having dinner together tonight!”  Harry chattered excitedly, before launching into a long dissertation about what had been going on while they’d been apart, using whatever kitchen utensil happened to be in his hand to assist in illustrating his story.

Skull and Viper exchanged pleased looks as they arranged themselves into comfortable positions and let their baby Sky’s voice wash over them and soothe away the fatigue and stress of the last few months.

 _It was good to be home_.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

****


	6. Distance

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Harry sighed in contentment as he watched Viper and Skull bicker playfully from his position on the couch in the mansion’s living room.

Since Viper had had such a tough mission, she’d been given a decent amount of time off.  This worked out well because Colonnello was due in about a week, as Mafia Land would be coming to its Italian stop partway through the second week of August.

It was nice to be together again, as even Verde was making sure to make time so they could all at least eat dinner together.  Of course, they were also spending plenty of time together in the labs as they finalized the upgrades and had some last minute brainstorming sessions about the upgrades and renovations that were going onto the ship.

They’d been down in the Labs most of the day, actually, until Harry had had an ‘incident’ and his three Arcobaleno had ordered him to rest.

Harry grimaced and tried to suppress his need to cough, but failed and soon he was swiftly rising and making his way to the restroom so he wouldn’t make a mess.  Small hands gently smoothed his hair back from his sweaty, flushed face as he heaved into the toilet, letting him know that Skull was there, which meant Viper probably had followed him as well.

By the time he was finished, he was exhausted- he felt as if he’d run a _marathon_ \- and he flushed the toilet and slumped back against the bathroom wall.  Harry blinked a few times and smiled weakly at Skull, “I’m alright now, Skull.   Thank you.”

Skull’s purple eyes were full of worried tears.  “You’re getting worse.”  Skull sniffed miserably, and Harry was quick to reach out and bring the tiny Cloud Arcobaleno into his arms.

“It’s alright, Skull.”

“No.”  Viper’s voice was eerily flat as she floated over and sat herself down in front of Harry.  “It’s not alright, Harry.  Skull is correct, your condition is worsening rapidly.”

Harry smiled gently and gestured for Viper to come closer.  The Mist Arcobaleno padded forward and nestled herself next to Skull so that Harry’s arms were around them both.  “Verde’s working on it guys, but there’s not a lot he can do against two opposing supernatural forces.”

“We’re the _I Prescelti Sette_ and we can’t _do_ _anything_!  I _hate_ this!“  Skull burst out in maddened aggravation as he furiously rubbed at his eyes to wipe away his frustrated tears.  Viper was eerily silent but leaned further into Harry, as if trying to reassure herself that he was still there.

The Sky Arcobaleno unconsciously called his Flame to the surface as he soothed his upset elements.  “Really, guys, everything will be alright.  I _promise_.”

“Pinky promise?”  Skull sniffed miserably.

“I pinky promise.”  Harry agreed solemnly, linking his pinky with Skull’s tiny one and repeating the process with Viper.

 _I promise I’ll free you_.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Harry and Skull were having a blast riding rides and window shopping at Mafia Land, Viper had gone off to do ‘business’ hours ago, but she was supposed to meet them for lunch.

They’d arrived yesterday and had a few minutes to say hi to Colonnello before his duties had pulled him away.

Verde was here, but he and his team of minions were currently overhauling the ship- _Harry really needed to name it at some point-_ and Harry had been politely, but firmly, told to make himself scarce until they were finished.

(Harry had zero desire to get in between Verde and his project.  Bad things happened to people who did that, so it was best to just step back let Verde do his thing.)

He and Skull were currently goofing off at an outdoor stall.  It was one of those ‘shoot the arrow at the target and win a prize’ stalls, and so far Harry had hit just about everywhere _but_ the target, much to Skull’s amusement.

“No, no!  Your elbow is too low-ack!”  Skull broke into another wave of mirth as Harry not only missed the target, but nearly hit the stall operator.

 _Again_.

“Sorry!”  Harry squeaked embarrassedly.

The man gave a hearty laugh.  “S’fine, lad!  I haven’t had this much entertainment in ages!”

Skull gasped for breath, “You’re so bad you’re good.  This is _amazing_.”

Harry gaze the purple-haired baby a mock glare.  “Not all of us are born marksmen.”  He retorted primly.

“You can’t even hit the _target_ let alone the _mark_!”  Skull reminded him gleefully.

“I’ll have you know that I’ve fired fifteen arrows now, and only eight of them nearly caused bodily harm.”  Harry informed him in a faux-snooty voice, causing both Skull and the stall operator to break out into a new wave of laughter.  “I feel so loved.”  Harry drawled dramatically.

“You should.” A new voice interrupted.

“Lal!”  Harry exclaimed, a brilliant smile coming to his face as he whirled around and promptly crouched down to be eye level with the female Rain Arcobaleno as Skull’s- _‘lo Lal_ \- was heard, “I thought you couldn’t make it!”

Lal Mirch smirked, “I _made_ my boss see _reason_.”

Harry laughed, “You left enough pieces for him to be identified with, right?”

Lal’s grin turned sharper.  “Maybe.”  She said nonchalantly as she casually inspected her nails.

Skull squeaked in the background.

Harry opened his mouth to rejoin something witty, but his face contorted and he started coughing.  “Sorry!”  He rushed out as he scampered away to find a bathroom.

Lal shot Skull an alarmed look as the Cloud Arcobaleno hurriedly paid the stall operator and raced after Harry.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

That night Lal sat down with Skull after Harry went to sleep.  “Why haven’t you called Reborn?”  She hissed through her teeth.  Seeing how far Harry’s condition had deteriorated had _terrified_ her. There was something special about the baby Sky that made him feel like home, and she hadn’t had nearly enough time with him!

Skull gave her a wet glare and replied heatedly, “He doesn’t _want_ me to!  I was helping Viper for part of the summer, and Verde has made some medicine that _has_ helped, but Harry is convinced that it’s not that bad and I don’t want to do anything that would make him try to hide things from me!”

Lal reluctantly nodded, but she was still upset about the whole thing.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

The next day was better in terms of Harry’s condition.  Harry, Skull, Lal, and Viper spent most of the day together seeing the sights of Mafia Land. 

The island had a few nature trails as it boasted a rather breathtaking landscape past the industrialized parts, and Harry took a ton of pictures of the landscape and his Arcobaleno companions.  They also had a lot of fun with their food options and had an English breakfast, a French lunch, and an Asian dinner.

They had gotten to spend some time with Colonnello throughout the day as well.

 _Today was really awesome_.  Harry thought in contentment as he settled on the couch to watch some television.  Lal and Viper were going out to have some ‘girl time’ and Skull had some things to do, so Harry was by himself in the rooms that Colonnello had set them up with.

He was still idly flicking through the channels when a portal opened up and Jager stepped out.  “Jager!”  He said delightedly, before adding hurriedly, “Do you need more Flames?  Is everything alright?”

The bandages made facial expression impossible, but Harry got the distinct impression that Jager was amused.  “ **No, child, everything is fine.  Lord Bermuda sent me to tell you that the negotiations have been successful and construction will begin next week.”**

Harry brightened and sat up straight.  “That’s _amazing_!  Are you sure you don’t need anything?  It’s going to be awfully expensive…”

Jager was _definitely_ amused now.  **“I assure you that the costs are negligible to us.  Improvements were made to your design, of course, but you will actually be earning money as both races will be using parts of your design in the future for other projects**.”

“Really?”  Harry blinked owlishly and scratched his neck sheepishly.  “But it’s just a simple concept.”

Jager shook his head and chuckled.  “ **It’s far more than that.  At any rate I must be going**.”

Harry smiled warmly at the tall Vindice, “Thank you for letting me know.  Are you sure you don’t need any Flames?”

“ **I assure you, child, that I am fine.  I will see you later**.”  With that Jager opened up a portal and left.

Harry laid back against the couch and picked up the remote again.  “I wonder why they’d pay _me_ to use my silly little design?”  He wondered out loud.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Verde had outdone himself with the upgrades to the ship and all the remodeling that Harry had wanted done had been done above and beyond his expectations.

The NavTech was _beyond_ amazing, they now had internet access so that they would be able to access maps and communicate with everyone no matter where they went, and all the FlameTech had been tried and proven to be able to withstand an incredible amount of magic.  They could now project their movies onto the main sail, like a drive-in theatre.  Verde had also upgraded the fuel system and installed his own backup system in case of a major failure.

Verde had even made a stage that would unfold on the deck so that Skull could entertain Harry properly.  Not to mention the table that appeared on the deck with the push of the button, so that meals could be enjoyed there without nearly as much hassle.

“Thank you Verde!  You really outdid yourself!  This is _amazing_!”  Had been Harry’s mantra for most of the tour.

The Lightning Arcobaleno had basked in the praise of his Sky and fellow Arcobaleno.

Lal had made more than one comment about how jealous she was and Viper mentioned buying her own ship so she could make it her home away from home.

Harry had cocked his head to the side and given her a funny look.  “That’s why Verde made separate security systems for the rooms on the second and third deck and I had them remodel them into suites instead of single rooms.  It’s so all of you have a safe place to go if you need it.”

Viper had sucked in a sharp breath.  “Harry, this is your _home_.”

“I know.”  Harry told her with a heartfelt smile, “But you guys are my _family_.  I _want_ you to feel safe here.  I want you to feel free to come here.”  Harry made eye contact with Lal and Skull and Verde.  “All of you have a place here- if you want it.”  Harry’s cheeks flushed and he ducked his head shyly.

“Oh.”  Viper said shakily around the lump in her throat.  “ _Oh_.”

Thankfully Skull broke the slightly awkward moment by proclaiming that he was painting his door black and decorating it with purple skulls, prompting a playful argument between the Sky and Cloud Arcobaleno as they made their way further down the hall, Verde trailing after them with an indulgent smile on his face.

Viper was still floating in the same place, trying to process the fact that her Sky had just offered her a _home_.

“It’s not fair.”  Lal whispered from beside her.  Viper turned her head and was alarmed to see tears in Lal’s eyes.  “It’s not fair that he’s so kind and forgiving and warm and-and _Skyish_ , but he’s already so sick.”  Lal turned teary eyes towards her fellow Arcobaleno and friend.  “I don’t want to lose him, Viper.” Lal whispered quietly as fresh tears spilled down from her eyes and she curled into herself.

“I know Lal.”  Viper commiserated as she floated down and gave her friend a hug.  “I _know_.”

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Harry and Skull were sprawled out on the floor of the room they’d designated as the ‘living’ room, looking over some paper maps and trying to decide where they were going next.

“I really want to sail back up towards Ireland to take my next round of tests, and then up to Iceland and Greenland.  Maybe even see the Faroe Islands, since they’re right past Ireland.”  Harry mused as he idly traced over the map with a finger.  “I really would like to sail through the Artic, especially as it’s Fall and the Northern Lights should be pretty amazing now that the whole ‘Midnight Sun’ part of the year is pretty much over.  However…”

“Navigating the waters of the Arctic Circle is not something that should be taken lightly.”  Skull finished.

“ _Exactly_.”  Harry grimaced unhappily.  “There’s so many places that I want to take pictures of in the far North, but we’d need an experienced captain, even with Verde’s tech.”

“Well, then it’s a good thing that I have connections.”  Viper said from the doorway.

Harry looked up in surprise and crawled up into a sitting position, “What are you talking about, Viper?”

Viper grinned at Harry and floated further into the room, “I heard you planning earlier and went to check on someone who owes me a debt.  They are aware of magic and are Flame Active, first of all.”  She told them as she settled herself on Harry’s lap.  “And, almost more importantly, they spent nearly forty-five years in the Royal Navy before retiring.  After retiring from the military they started taking jobs as a Cruise Ship Captain, which has been their hobby ever since.  They’ve sailed the Artic many, many times and are at your disposal.”

“Wow!”  Harry exclaimed, cuddling Viper closer and unconsciously tapping into his Flames in his excitement.  “That’s awesome Viper!  What’s their name?”

Viper hesitated slightly.  “Viper?”  Harry called worriedly and Skull stopped whooping in excitement to look at Viper searchingly.

“What do you know about the night your parents were murdered, Harry?”  Viper asked instead.

“Not much.”  Harry grimaced.  “Voldemort came in, killed my Dad, then my Mum, and then tried to kill me.”

“I figured as much.”  Viper grumbled.  “Your parents had been in hiding for a while, Harry, under a charm that hides a place from existence except from a single person.  Only that person can give the Secret to another and allow them access to the area that has been warded out of normal space.  It is called the _Fidelius Charm_.”

“Ok.  So it’s like a secret place that no one knows exists unless that one person tells them the Secret?”

“Precisely.”  Viper told him approvingly.  “Your parents were betrayed by the person who held their Secret and that is how Voldemort found them.”

“Oh.”  Harry said sadly.  “Someone close to them betrayed them?”

“That’s terrible.”  Skull murmured lowly.

“Well, that’s where things get complicated.”  Viper told them with a disgusted grimace.  “Sirius Black was put into Azkaban for the crime after a confrontation with another friend of theirs, Peter Pettigrew, but not all of the facts align correctly- or at all really.  Black supposedly cast a curse that killed over a dozen people- but left their bodies intact- while he obliterated all but one of Pettigrew’s fingers from existence.”

“That doesn’t make sense.”  Verde’s voice came from the doorway.

“Hey Verde, Lal- come in and have a seat!”  Harry called cheerfully.

“My thoughts exactly, Verde.”  Viper said in agreement as the other two Arcobaleno came in and seated themselves comfortably.  “Especially as the other people were between Black and Pettigrew.  Also, it was nearly a week _after_ Harry’s parents’ murder that this altercation occurred.”

“One of them was chasing the other.” Lal said firmly.

“Again, that is what I believe as well. As Pettigrew was quoted as saying something along the lines of ‘How could you?’ and Black cast his curse and had what amounts to a grief-induced or guilt-induced breakdown.”

Harry blinked a few times and frowned lightly.  “Pettigrew sounds like he was trying to shift blame.  If he was innocent why didn’t he go to Professor Dumbledore or the Aurors?  If Black had betrayed my parents to Voldemort wouldn’t he have gone to ground after his fall?”

“All excellent questions, Harry.”  Verde said approvingly.  “It is also extremely implausible for a curse- even with the wildcard that is magic- to entirely remove a person from existence without a trace, save for a single finger while simultaneously causing so much collateral damage.  Even with an event such as a gas line rupturing contributing to the situation.”

The Arcobaleno Elements started discussing technicalities and theories while Harry dropped deeply into his thoughts.  _There is something I’m forgetting, my intuition is trying to tell me something._

“-wrote it down somewhere-“

Harry’s started suddenly and moved Viper before hopping to his feet, “ _I’llberightback!_ ”  He called over his shoulder as he scurried out of the room, only to return a few minutes later with a leather-bound book.  “This is my mother’s journal.”  He explained after he sat back down and reclaimed Viper.  “Only I can read it because it is protected by the Potter Family Magic.  I tried to read through it during the voyage across the Pacific, but I didn’t understand a lot of what was written in it.”  Harry flipped through the pages before making a happy sounding noise in the back of his throat as he found what he was looking for.

“- _today Sirius told us that he has been followed by Death Eaters lately.  He doesn’t feel that he will be able to hold them off forever, so he and James have convinced me to switch the Fidelius from Sirius to Peter without telling anyone.  I don’t want to- as I’ve never been overly fond of Peter, he’s always just rubbed me the wrong way, as terrible as that sounds- but I know that if Sirius is worried then there is a good chance that something might happen to him.  I just pray we’re making the right decision.  Sirius is Harry’s Godfather, after all, and there’s nothing he wouldn’t do to protect him.  Some days I think Sirius adores Harry more than he adores James, and they’ve been blood-brothers since the Potters took him in when he ran away from his despicable mother after Fifth Year_.” 

Harry read aloud, the words finally making sense under Viper’s new information.  “It’s dated the 28th of September, 1981.  She doesn’t write about them changing it again.”  He told them weakly, as he looked up to face the others.

The expressions on his Arcobaleno’s faces _did not bode well_ for this Peter Pettigrew fellow; Harry halfheartedly hoped he really was dead, for his sake.

Viper picked up an errant piece of paper that had absent doodles and half-formed travel plans up off the floor and sneezed on it.  “Peter Pettigrew is alive.”  She announced in a dangerously flat voice. 

“Oh, _is he_?”  Lal purred dangerously.  “Do you feel like going for a _walk_ , Viper?”

Viper’s smile was serpentine- sly and lethal. “Indeed Lal.”

“I have a few new specimen holding areas in my Lab.”  Verde interjected casually.

“Uh, guys?”  Harry began hesitantly.

“ _Harry_.”  Skull’s voice was deadly serious.  “This piece of scum sold out your parents.”  Skull went on to show exactly how well he knew Harry with his follow-up statement.  “It doesn’t _matter_ that if it hadn’t happened you never would have been given your Pacifier and found us.  **_He hurt you_**.  You now know you had a loving Godfather who has suffered in one of the worst prisons on Earth for a crime he didn’t commit, which will upset you greatly once it fully sinks in.  It’s our _privilege_ as your Elements to exact vengeance on your behalf.  Let us _rage_ , Harry.”

Harry snapped his mouth shut and took in the expressions on his Arcobaleno’s faces for a long moment before slipping his eyes closed and sighing heavily.  “Do whatever you feel necessary.”  He said at length.

“ _Thank you_ , Harry.”  Skull smiled affectionately at the young Sky.  “It means a lot to us.”

“Indeed.”  Verde agreed, with Lal and Viper adding their own verbal agreements.

“At any rate.”  Viper continued in a rather taut tone of voice.  “The Captain I have for you is Marius Black, who was disowned from the Black Family for being unable to use magic.  He is also your great-uncle, through your grandmother, Dorea Potter, neè Black.  As Sirius Black is quite clearly innocent of betraying your parents, the factor of his incarceration is a rather moot point, as Marius has always firmly believed in Sirius’ innocence and that was what I was most concerned about in regards to hiring him.”

“Well,” Harry said in an amused tone of voice as he smiled warmly at his Elements, letting his Flame unfurl from deep within him and spiral through the room. “I guess I’ll plot out my Artic travel plans while you lot scheme.”

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Peter Pettigrew was a Death Eater, a willing one. 

As a Pureblood he’d been approached by the Death Eaters in his Sixth Year.  That year Sirius and James had been especially close as Sirius had spent the summer with the Potter Family after fleeing from Wallburga Black. 

Remus Lupin had been spending a great deal of time with Lily Evans, as she and Severus Snape were no longer friends and Remus appealed to her academic sensibilities.  This had caused some friction, and therefore distance, between James and Remus, although the former knew the latter wasn’t interested in Lily in a romantic manner.  It was still difficult for James to witness the lovely Miss Evans spending loads of quality time with the most dignified Marauder when she wouldn’t give James the time of day.

This left Peter- poor, pitiful, pathetic Peter- all by himself.  An outcast among his most cherished friends because of a stupid _Mudblood_.

Of course, Peter didn’t join the Death Eaters the first time they approached him.  Like a true Gryffindor he’d hexed them good and told them to shove their ideologies where the sun didn’t shine. 

But as the year progressed and his friends got further and further away from him, Peter began to listen to the sly voices from the dark part of his heart, and they echoed the sweet words the Death Eaters were slipping into his ears.

( _Will you walk into my parlour?  Said the Spider to the Fly_.)

He’d see Remus and Lily bent over dusty tomes, laughing and enjoying themselves as James and Sirius grew closer and closer.

All the while Peter waited in the corner for one of them to notice him and call him over, but, of course, no one ever did.

The Spring Hols of his Sixth Year, Peter Pettigrew chose his side.

He chose acceptance and power over friendship and loyalty; and all it cost him was everything he had ever held sacred.

( _And now dear little children, who may this story read,/To idle, silly flattering words, I pray you ne'er give heed:/Unto an evil counsellor, close heart and ear and eye,/And take a lesson from this tale, of the Spider and the Fly.*_ )

Peter had always wondered what his mother’s favorite poem meant, as it was obvious that the fly had been played from the very beginning and it was incredibly foolish for it to have ever listened to the spider.

But laying in his dorm with his _brothers_ sleeping nearby him, and the Mark that had been seared onto his arm for all of eternity throbbing menacingly, Peter had suddenly understood, and he’d wept silent, bitter tears for it. 

By then it had been too late, he’d already opened Pandora’s Box and jumped down the rabbit hole.  So he’d reveled in the darkness and pretended to belong to the light. 

When the Dark Lord had fallen he’d been terrified, as there were people _who knew_ \- so he’d framed Sirius and hidden as a rat.  Eventually becoming a beloved pet while he bided his time.

He’d been among the first to return to his Master’s side, but the Dark Lord was _not_ a forgiving man, and Peter had not warned him of Lily Potter’s contingency plan.  Therefore he was spat on and ridiculed and belittled despite his steadfast loyalty and service.

Forced to do menial tasks like a _muggle servant_ , but Peter vowed to regain his Mater’s favor.  (Not trust, _never_ trust- the Dark Lord trusted _no one_.)  So he went about these tasks and duties with vigor, despite the _Crucios_ and curses his Master sent his way more often than not.

Peter Pettigrew was scurrying back towards his Master’s stronghold, arms laden with the ingredients his Master required when chains wreathed in indigo fire sprung up around him, pinning his arms to his side and dragging him back into a dark void.

 _Master, save me!_   He sniveled mentally, unable to scream like the pitiful cretin he was due to the chain that wound around his jaw and wedged harshly between his teeth.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Fon was not one who was prone to anger.  He had trained his Storm to manifest in his limbs while the eye of the Storm was always firmly fixed in his mind, keeping him from being prone to rash, regrettable actions.

Reborn was the World’s Greatest Hitman, the strongest of all the Arcobaleno and he was not ruled by his baser instincts.  He was always cool, calm, collected, and at least three steps ahead of any situation.

Colonnello was a Classic Rain.  Calm, focused, generally unflappable with an agile mind that could adapt quickly to new and different situations.  He hadn’t risen through the ranks of the Italian Military into the COMSUBIN Unit without learning discipline and restraint.

None of these men were feeling particularly like themselves at the moment. 

They had been called and told about the unfolding situation with their baby Sky by Verde, who was going over last minute checks at his Lab in the area where his future guests would be secured.  Verde’s voice was distantly polite, but they could hear the stirrings of _absolute fury_ underlying the professional tone.

They were feeling much the same way.

The only thing that was helping them keep it all together was the knowledge that they Dark Lord who had orphaned their Sky was still alive.  Viper had run across _that_ bit of information when she’d been stalking the target, (she was an Esper and an assassin, she did _not_ take senseless risks), and had been quick to inform the others of this development.

“He’s _ours_ , Verde.”  Reborn purred darkly when they’d been informed, his voice thrumming with malevolent intent as he relished the thought of _annihilating_ the _filth_ who dared harm what was _his_.  “Find the bastard, but leave him to _us_.  It’s only fair.”

Fon and Colonnello’s echoing sentiments were equally as rife with sadistic promise at the prospect of raining vengeance down on the so-called ‘ _Dark_ _Lord’_.

Verde announced that Viper and Lal had arrived with their first guest and hung up abruptly, and the other three were quick to follow, cursing their prior obligations to _hell_ and back for keeping them away.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Harry was lavishing attention on Hedwig.  She’d been enjoying her freedom over the summer to take long flights in an area populated with plenty of prey for her to terrorize, so they had been apart quite a bit lately.

He gently threaded attentive, careful fingers through her lustrous feathers and cooed affectionate nonsense that she endured with the bearing of an indulgent royal.

He was enjoying himself, sitting in a park in Matera while his Elements were conducting their business, but he was also trying not to think about the fact that his Arcobaleno were currently _raging_.

Who knows what sort of insanity they were currently inflicting on their hapless victims?

 _Unfortunate fools_.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Sirius Black was huddled in the furthest corner of his dismal cell trying to hold on to the thought of his innocence to help ward off the nightmares and- _even worse_ \- the memories that the Dementors inspired.

Harry, his precious Godson, had been pronounced dead nearly two years ago.

Sirius knew, with all the desperation of a drowning man, that that was a _lie_.  He was linked to Harry through magic as his rightful Godparent- _Harry’s only Godparent_ \- and he knew that the small light in his wretched soul that represented his Godson was the only thing that was keeping him alive.

He’d have absolutely no reason to exist, otherwise.

A flash of azure fire, a single heartbeat in time, and the cell no longer hosted a tortured soul.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Lord Voldemort was pacing impatiently as he awaited his useless servant Pettigrew to return.

Voldemort had used Barty’s Mark to call the rat, but something was blocking the connection, which shouldn’t be possible.  The man scowled ferociously, if the idiotic rat had gotten caught by Dumbledore…..

“Barty!”  Voldemort snapped impatiently, pleased when the young man came running into the room and immediately kneeling while presenting his Mark.

Voldemort pressed his wand to the Mark and summoned his followers.  They needed to plan for the worst-case scenario, and if Pettigrew showed up without an _offering_ -

Well, then Nagini would be fed quite well.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Albus Dumbledore was a man waging a war against an insidious, unseen enemy with no end in sight and no back-up plan.

He felt the years reverberate through his very _bones_ as he performed this piece of Dark Magic, but he was _desperate_.

Remus Lupin, after much persuasion, had provided him with an artifact that James Potter had made for him- well, charmed for him- during their school years.

The piece of Divination-based Dark Magic that Albus was attempting was _illegal_ because it used the essence of someone’s magic to track down someone whose magic resonated with it- meaning a relation.  The closer the relation, the greater the resonance. 

The reason why it was _illegal_ and _banned_ was because it used the resonance in the sample to tether the match to a fixed object.  The object, as long as it had a magical supply and was undamaged, would pull at the person on the other end until they came in a close enough range for traditional tracking spells to work, at which point Albus’ secondary device would kick in and forcibly Reverse Portkey the boy to his office.

(The tether also ate at the magic of the person, which was what made the spell so sinister and why it had been banned.  It could potentially drain the person of their magic _entirely_ and kill them in the process.

A Reverse Portkey was a tricky bit of magic that maybe five magicals in the entire world could craft, it just so happened that Albus was one of them.)

It was a desperate gamble to find the only child that could fit the Prophecy as Neville Longbottom had been among the students whose magic had been irreparably damaged by the mysterious events of the previous school year. 

Albus grieved deeply for the children that he’d failed so thoroughly, and that was what was driving him to take this desperate gamble, in the hopes that young Harry could be found and fulfill the Prophecy, so that those children might be avenged.

The spell took a great deal of power, ingredients, and magical technique, but it was finally complete.

 _Success_. 

The spell had found the boy, _Harry was alive!_

“ _Fawkes_!”

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Harry’s intuition suddenly _screamed_ in warning. 

He quickly snatched the Pacifier from his leg and poured as much of his Flames as he could muster into it, as Hedwig’s wings caught fire- _or the orange-tinted part of her wings seemed to_ \- as she settled over her Partner and flared her wings in warning.

Viper appeared not a moment later, “ _Harry_!  What’s going on?!”

“I don’t know!”  The young Sky called back, “but my intuition is _screaming_ at me!”

Viper’s technique wrapped around all three of them and she whisked them away, taking them to three random locations before settling them back on the ship and collapsing in exhaustion.

“Viper, are you alright?!”  Harry cried in distress as he rushed forward to catch the small Mist Arcobaleno.

“I’mm fiinee.”  She slurred, too weak to even hold her hood up.  Her blue hair was matted with sweat and her eyes were pained. “I-I j-ust overused m-my Flames.  I’llll be fiiine af-ffter sssome reesstt.” Her words became more incoherent as she spoke.

Harry narrowed his eyes and placed his hand on her Pacifier, willing his Flames to support her.  Hedwig went over and gathered Fantasma up in her still-wreathed-in-Flames-wings and cooed at her fellow Partner as she supported Fantasma as well.

Slowly Viper’s breathing evened out and she stopped trembling.  “Thank you Harry.”  She said after about ten minutes of having Harry feed Flames into her, “I’m fine now.”

Harry’s green eyes were still troubled, “Are you sure, Viper?”

The Mist Arcobaleno smirked at him, and this time he could actually _see_ her roll her eyes.  “Yes, I’m fine, now stop feeding me your Flames before you make yourself sick.”

“Patient’s gonna live.”  Harry said dryly, reluctantly withdrawing his hands from Viper’s Pacifier.

“Is your intuition still screaming at you?”

Harry hummed pensively and focused his attention inwards for a few moments.  “Nope.”  He finally told her.  “All clear.  Sorry for the trouble.”

“Don’t be.”  Viper told him sharply.  “If I ever find out that your intuition warned you of a threat and you didn’t react appropriately because you didn’t want to cause a fuss I will _bankrupt_ you, child!”

Harry held up his hands in mock defense.  “Yes, ma’am!”  He told her cheekily, but his eyes showed that he understood her message.

Satisfied that her point had been made, Viper grimaced as she ran a hand through her hair, “I’m going to call the others and take a shower, try to stay out of trouble for five minutes, alright?”

Harry stuck his tongue out at the Mist Arcobaleno.  “So bossy.”  He teased.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Moments after Viper and Harry disappeared from the park, Fawkes the Phoenix and Headmaster Dumbledore arrived in a burst of fire. 

The man would search the area with a number of obscure tracking and locator spells, but would return to Hogwarts empty handed when the Law Enforcement Officers of the Mediterranean Magical Authority arrived and began questioning what the Supreme Mugwump was doing in their territory without having gone through the proper channels.

Dumbledore arrived back at Hogwarts disheartened, but also determined as the device was still active, meaning it had managed to lock onto Harry.  The boy was apparently behind strong Wards as the device was currently blocked, but Albus was determined to rescue the boy from whoever had gotten their hands on him.

_I just hope that they haven’t destroyed the goodness inside him.  Be strong, Harry.  We’ll find you and bring you home!_

It was time to re-form The Order of the Phoenix.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Once she got all the other on the line, Viper explained what had happened.  About how Harry’s intuition had warned that he was under imminent threat and he had reacted.

None of the Arcobaleno were angry about it- actually, they were all fairly pleased with Harry’s swift and decisive response.

They decided that since once Harry was behind the Wards and defenses of the ship his intuition had stopped screaming, then that would be where he would _stay_ until they figured out _who_ was after him and _why_.

About halfway through the conversation Harry had another incident, and this one lasted a fairly long time.  Viper muted her phone while she went in to fuss over him and then bully Harry into resting, but she could still hear the conversation through her earpiece. 

Verde frowned on his end of the line, “Something is exacerbating his condition.”  He stated grimly.  “He shouldn’t have had an incident this bad for at least another four months, maybe six with the new medicine.”

“Verde.”  Fon’s voice was deathly calm.  “Are you suggesting that _something_ _else_ is attempting to siphon off our Sky’s life force?”

“Possibly.”  Verde admitted.  “They might just be trying to track him and it is a side-effect of the spell.  There are magical spells that can accomplish such things, but they are labeled as Dark Magic and need something from a close family member to form such a tether.  It was in one of the books I picked up from the shady part of Diagon Alley.  I’ve had my minions searching for anything that could be used to track or trace him, since he used to be a celebrity before his supposed death.  I wanted all our bases to be covered.”

Curse words filled the airwaves before Fon politely broke through them.  “Whoever has tied this additional tether to Harry- if that is what has happened and is causing his condition to worsen- I want the pleasure of ending them.  Reborn and Colonnello can have the so-called Dark Lord if they want, but I want whoever purposefully made this _worse_.”

“Fine by me.” Lal said, “As long as the rest of us have free reign over the subordinates.  Viper and I want to express our _displeasure_ as well.”

“I need a few specimens for my more sensitive experiments.”  Verde interjected calmly.

The Arcobaleno all agreed to the terms.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Harry had had to beg, but he had eventually won the argument about still taking his assessment tests. 

Though he was taking them in Iceland instead of Ireland, as his Arcobaleno wanted him as far away from Britain as possible until they had satisfied all their paranoid tendencies.

By the time Harry had woken up after _The Incident_ , the ship had already made it through the Strait of Gibraltar and into the Atlantic Ocean proper.  Fortunately they’d already been ready to set sail before _The Incident_ , so it wasn’t a real hardship for Harry who was incredibly happy to be back at sea.

(And, yes, with all the paranoia he was having to deal with, _The Incident_ deserved its capital letters!)

Reykjavík, Iceland, was also where they would be meeting up with the Capitan, Marius Black, who Viper has confirmed as theirs for the foreseeable future while Harry had been asleep.  Skull would be joining them there as well, and Viper would be going back to the Varia as her vacation time would be over.

Reykjavík was one of the biggest cities in Iceland, and boasted the small island’s second-largest airport, so Harry was pretty excited to see it, but for now he was having a blast hanging out with Viper, watching Disney movies on the deck on the couches that Verde had installed that came equipped with heated cushions with TemperatureSmart technology, to keep the temperature toasty but not too hot.

Science was _so cool_.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Peter Pettigrew didn’t know who these people were, but they were _terrifying_.

He didn’t know how long he’d been here or what day it was or if it was even day or night.

The worst part was while he could _feel_ his magic and he even had his wand, he couldn’t make it _work_.

_At all._

It was distressing experience for a Death Eater who prided themselves on the might of magic, to be rendered entirely helpless even with their wand in hand and their magic bubbling freely through their blood.

Peter curled up on himself and sobbed.

He couldn’t even shift into his rat form.  He had done so a few times in the beginning when he’d first woken up, but then the transformation had just _stopped working_.

 _That wasn’t supposed to be possible_.

The babies who came in and interrogated him were the _worst_.

Peter had done a great many things while high off his own power and he’d earned the Dementor’s Kiss at least a dozen times over.  But he’d take a Dementor over the innocent-looking, cherubic little Demon Spawn that came and dragged out all of his dirty secrets without ever firing a curse or actually physically hurting him.  They played with his mind in ways that magic _couldn’t_ and made him feel remorse for the things that he’d done when he hadn’t actually regretted them before- and they made him _terrified_ to _die_ because James and Lily and all of his victims would be waiting for him on the other side.

He sobbed harder as his mind tormented him with scenes of what was awaiting him on the other side.  Death would be no mercy for Peter Pettigrew.  He wanted his Master to come and rescue him so he could show these _Mudbloods_ the might of a _Pureblood Wizard_! 

Peter glanced at his missing arm and sobbed harder, the harsh sounds echoing around the room as his body quivered pitifully.  The- the little _Hell Spawn_ \- had removed his arm a while back and took great deal of pleasure in telling him about how it was still alive attached to a machine and how they’d use it to track down his Master and the others.

 _The Dark Lord couldn’t be beaten!_   He’d screeched at them _.  The Dark Lord would torment them and make them see the might of magic!_

They had laughed in his face and told him that he wouldn’t have to worry about such things, because he’d be _dead_.

Peter had fallen into a prostrate bow and _begged_ them not to, as they’d idly listed off the names of the people he’d tortured, brutalized, and murdered as they taunted him with his impending death.  Only stopping after he’d passed out from fear, leaving him to wake up when the muggle lights flooded the room and wouldn’t allow for him to rest for what seemed like _weeks_ at a time before cutting off without warning and plunging him into an absolute darkness that ate at Peter’s mind until he nearly forgot his own _name_.

The door beyond field that kept him inside this cell opened, and the field flickered as one of the babies came inside the cell with him.  Peter had learned the hard way that they weren’t normal babies and could kick his ass without even breaking a sweat and so he backed up into the furthest corner of the cell, whimpering in fear as the baby casually walked closer.

The black-eyed toddler in the expensive suit smirked darkly at him.  “It seems that we have no more need of you, Mr. Pettigrew.”

Peter’s eyes widened, “ _No_! **NO**! You _can’t_!”  He screamed in anguished torment. “I’m still useful!  I have more to tell you-“  He babbled senselessly as he pressed himself further into the corner and tried to bargain for his continued existence.

The toddler raised a muggle gun at him and Peter suddenly cackled arrogantly- _because muggle bullets didn’t affect wizards like they affected muggles-_ but the baby’s smirk only turned darker, more wicked.  “Tell James and Lily Potter hello for me.”  He said in a faux-pleasant voice.

Peter’s eyes widened and he quaked in abject terror.  “ _No_ -“

The baby pulled the trigger, and less than a second later a bullet casing fell to the ground.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Sirius Black knew that _something_ had happened, but the bed underneath him and being _warm_ for the first time in what felt like forever was also a pretty good indication that something drastic had changed.

The fact that his mind was actually clear enough that he could string more than two thoughts together helped as well, as did the foreign feeling of being clean.

“Good morning, Sirius.” A deep male voice said from next to the bed.

Sirius turned his head and slowly worked his eyes open before he gaped in bewilderment.  “U-Unc-cle M-Ma-ari-ius-s?”  He rasped.

Marius Black smiled at his favorite nephew’s favorite nephew.  “It’s been a long time, Sirius.”

“But-how- _what_?”  Sirius asked in confused bafflement.

“Good morning, Mr. Black.”  A childish voice sounded from his other side, “We have a _lot_ to talk about.”

Sirius gaped at the green-haired baby in the lab coat who was standing calmly on the bedside table next to the baby with the red visor and blue hair.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Harry and Viper were having one last movie-fest before they made it to Iceland.

They’d broken out the ice cream, made popcorn, and settled on the couch as they prepared for an epic Disney movie marathon.

(Both of them tried to ignore the bucket that was beside the couch.  Harry’s attacks had gotten so bad that he couldn’t always make it to the bathroom before he starting coughing up blood everywhere, hence the need for its existence.

They both hated it.)

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

The baby pulled the trigger, and less than a second later a bullet casing fell to the ground.

Only for a dark chain to shoot out of the shadows and block the bullet as the shadows of the room frothed and a dark portal opened up in the middle of the room as three of the most feared beings in the Mafia stepped out of it.

“ **Peter Pettigrew is ours**.”  The tallest bandaged Vindice intoned flatly as the dark chains wrapped around the sniveling, wailing coward and dragged him towards the frigid, forbidding portal.

Reborn was terrified and pleased in equal measure.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Sirius Black might have been the white sheep of the Black family, but he had been raised on political games and misdirection.

“So basically,” Sirius said slowly, “Either I can be under what amounts to house arrest with my Godson and explore the Artic or I can be under actual house arrest and be put in a call.”

“Basically.”  The visored-baby replied blandly.  “You might not have betrayed the Potters, but we don’t trust you.”

Sirius grinned fiercely.  “I can appreciate that.”  He told them.  “And it was never any question; I’ll do whatever is necessary to be close to my Godson.”

“Then you won’t mind consenting to a few tests.”  The green-haired baby hummed pensively.

“Bring it on.  Just tell me what I need to do to get to see Harry.”

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

*The Spider and the Fly is a poem by Mary Howitt (1799-1888), published in 1829.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―


	7. Deliverance

Harry had been banished from the deck of the ship while Sirius and Skull were doing- whatever it was they were doing.

It had been about a week since they had stopped in Reykjavík, Iceland, and picked up their new passengers.

Harry had had a lot of fun with Viper, and he’d been sad to see her leave to go back to the Varia, but he was also enjoying the new crewmembers.

Skull was one, and Sirius Black- _his Godfather_ \- was another.  Marius Black was the Captain, and of all people, _Reborn_ had been there as well.

Harry knocked on the door to Reborn’s suite and was bade to enter.  “Hey Reborn, are you busy?”

“No, what is it you need?”  The Sun Arcobaleno asked as he gestured for Harry to take a seat in one of the leather chairs that the toddler-sized man had placed in the living room portion of the room.

The Sky Arcobaleno shut the door quietly behind him and took the offered seat.  “Nothing, really.”  Harry said sheepishly.  “I just don’t feel like studying and Sirius and Skull are up to something topside and told me to make myself scarce.”

Reborn smirked at Harry and took a sip of his ever-present espresso.  “Slacking, Harry?”

“Why I would never.”  Harry said in faux-indignation, receiving an amused chuckle from his companion.

“Sure.”  Reborn didn’t sound convinced.  “So you’re just here because you’re bored?”

“Well.”  Harry hesitated.

“Well, what?”  Reborn prompted.

“I was kind of wondering if you’d help me with a project I wanted done.”  Harry said somewhat shyly, ducking his head and scuffing at the plush carpet with his shoes.

“Oh?”

Harry mentally kicked himself.  Reborn was already taking time off from his duties to be here for Harry and here he was requesting more.  “I-um.  It’s nothing.”  He said quickly flicking an uncertain glance at Reborn and blushing darkly.

“It doesn’t sound like nothing.”  Reborn said mildly.  “So, out with it.”

“It’s not really-“

A bullet whizzed past his cheek and Harry yelped in surprise, snapping his head up to stare wide-eyed at Reborn’s smirking face.  “Don’t lie Harry.  You’re terrible at it.”

Harry laughed nervously and took a deep breath.  “W-well, I wanted to make a habitat for Hedwig to fly in, but I’d need your help because-“

“-I’m a Sun.”  Reborn finished for him

“Uh, yeah.”  Harry shuffled nervously.

“Ok.”

“I mean-what?”  Harry said confusedly.

Reborn rolled his eyes and sent Harry a small grin.  “I said ok.  Let’s go build your partner a habitat.”  The Sun Arcobaleno said easily, hopping up from his recliner and heading for the door.

It took a few moments for it to sink in, but when it did Harry grinned happily and bounced after Reborn.  “Thanks Reborn!”

“Hm, you’re welcome.”  The Sun Arcobaleno said.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Making Hedwig’s habitat had been fun. 

 _Reborn is truly a master of his Activation Aspect_.  Harry thought in awe as he looked at the trees and flowers that were now decorating the magically-expanded room.

Since they were going to be spending so much time in colder areas and on the sea, Harry had wanted to give his Partner a warm, safe place to stretch her wings. 

Verde had designed the hardware for the room so it could hold Sun Flames and mimic the Sun’s light so the plants could flourish, and the dirt needed to make the habitat had been installed during the overhaul of the ship.  The room was designed to mimic a day/night cycle, and was charmed to always be between 50 degrees Fahrenheit and 80 degrees Fahrenheit, so that the plants and trees could grow without freezing or scorching. The sky of the room was fairly tall, and Verde had installed a wind generator that would mimic actual wind patterns so it would feel more realistic for Hedwig.

Now the habitat was bursting with lush grass and wildflowers, a small pond, and trees. 

“This is _amazing_ , Reborn!”  Harry breathed out excitedly as Hedwig flew around her new habitat happily.

Reborn smiled gently at the young Sky, infinitely pleased to have been able to put such a smile on the teen’s face.  He stamped down on the reoccurring guilt that he felt for not being able to see the teen over the summer, but things at the Vongola _had_ been far too tense and uncertain for him to get away.

Nevertheless, Reborn was quite satisfied to be here now.

“Come along, Harry.”  Reborn told the teen, “It’s time for you to lay down and take your medicine.”

Harry made a disgusted face but obeyed, absently putting his arm down for Reborn to hop on, which the Sun Arcobaleno did without fuss.

Harry started for a moment as it had been a habit that he usually had for Skull, and he felt a little surprised that Reborn hadn’t been offended, but once he came to grips with it he turned and gave Reborn a radiant, heartfelt smile.

Reborn was slightly taken aback by how happy Harry seemed be for something so trivial as Reborn hopping onto his shoulder, and he quietly revolved to do so more often if he reward was such a breathtaking smile.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Harry lay on one of the couches on the deck and cuddled with Skull and absently running his finger through Skull’s purple hair, while Sirius laid on the couch across from him as they talked about the stars and everything else that was on their minds.

Sirius and Skull had combined their talents and used the stage Verde had installed to act of part of ‘The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe’ for Harry, Marius, and Reborn and Harry was still too excited to sleep.

Marius had gone off to do Captain-y things, and Reborn had needed to check in with his employers, so it was just the three of them.

Harry glanced over at his Godfather, who was currently talking about the North Celestial Pole and how Polaris, more commonly known as the North Star, had been important to many cultures, with Skull interjecting with tidbits of his own information here and there.

Sirius was still healing from Azkaban and occasionally forgot where he was or what time period it was, but he was getting better.  What was a bit strange for Harry was how Sirius, a man he had never met before in his memory, was almost as fussy over him as his Arcobaleno were.

It was a bit strange for Harry, who had people who _cared_ for him for about three years, to have another person who loved him so fiercely.

It almost made him a bit sad to leave them all behind.

Harry smiled a bit bitterly and slipped off to sleep, his hands slowly stilling in Skull’s hair as his body gave into its need for rest.

_Figures that my time would grow short just as I started enjoying life._

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

The next few months passed quickly, though they didn’t get to explore the islands of the Artic as much as Harry wanted because his sickness kept getting worse.

Instead Harry spent a lot of time taking pictures from the ship or the inflatable dingy that had been retrofitted with every advancement and magical enhancement they could fit onto it.

Still, Harry had a lot of fun getting to know Sirius and Marius and spending time with Skull and Reborn. 

Marius was like a grandfather who loved to teach lessons by telling, ‘back in my day’ stories, but Harry loved hearing them.  Actually, he enjoyed them so much he used Verde’s FlameTech to record most of them so that he could re-watch them at a later time.  Harry wasn’t the only one who enjoyed Marius’ stories, though, because Skull and Sirius were just as enthralled by the tales of the man’s exploits as he was.

Reborn spent time with Harry and helped pull Harry’s math grades up.  Harry would probably never be a mathematician, but with Reborn’s help he should be able to pass his A-Level math requirements in a few years.  Reborn had also taken to Arithmancy with an almost disturbing ease, so Harry might be able to pass his Arithmancy IOWC next time, as he’d fallen a little short of the proficiency that a IOWC required.

(He’d finished his GCSE testing in Iceland, and he’d passed them.  He also had gotten his IOWC in Potions, Medieval Magical History, Practical Spellcasting, and Ancient Runes- subjects that Verde had taken over teaching him during the voyage across the Pacific.

So, now he had all of his GCSE requirements filled- though technically he didn’t _have_ to have them to take his A-Levels- but they were a good measure of where his education was as opposed to the others in his age group.

He now had IOWCs in Ancient Magical History, Modern Magical History, Medieval Magical History, Runic History, Astronomy, Charms, Inanimate Transfiguration, Potions, Spell Theory, and Practical Spellcasting.

Hogwarts offered OWLs and NEWTs for Herbology, Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, Astronomy, History, ancient Runes, Muggle Studies, Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, and Divination . 

Since he now held IOWCs for History, Astronomy, Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, and the equivalent of DADA, he was actually the equivalent of a Sixth Year at Hogwarts in Transfiguration and a NEWT Graduate in the rest.)

Skull, as always, was a little ball of chaos.  Harry had found a new appreciation for Skull’s intuition and empathy as the cloud Arcobaleno was able to coax Sirius back from his memories better than the rest of them- Harry included.

It had been gratifying to watch a new respect for Skull begin to blossom in Reborn, as well.

Sirius had been delighted to achieve Flame Activation, though.  He was a moderately powerful Mist with a hint of Storm, which he was having a great deal of fun experimenting with, especially with Viper’s pointers, (she was charging him a small fortune and taking it from his Gringotts account).

All in all, they’d had a great deal of fun together.

However, those peaceful months had very much been the calm before the storm.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

“I need to head back to Italy.”  Reborn informed them grimly.

Harry’s eyebrows rose in concern.  “Is everything alright?”

“For now.”  Reborn replied, “But I need to head back before something major happens.”  Reborn glanced at the young Sky, “I’m sorry, Harry.”

“It’s alright.”  Harry was quick to assure him, “I’m glad we got to spend time together.”

It went unsaid that the ship would have to return to Italy as well, since Harry’s condition was rapidly deteriorating.  He now had incidents nearly every other hour and was losing weight.

Skull and Reborn were both quietly terrified by Harry’s progression of illness and had had several fights when Harry was sleeping or otherwise occupied about everything from Skull keeping Harry a secret for so long to putting him in the Mafia Hospital in an effort to prolong his life.

 _Both_ Arcobaleno were absolutely certain to keep their disagreements away from Harry, though.  Even if his Sky intuition was a real pain some days.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

They made good time back to Italy, and anchored the ship off of the coast of Italy in the Bay of Naples.

Reborn quickly left them to go deal with Vongola business. 

Marius and Skull took Sirius to off to Marius’ place, so they could relax for a while and let Sirius heal without constantly leaning on Harry as a support. 

Skull only went with Marius and Sirius because Harry was with Colonnello, as Mafia Island was currently serving Spain and Portugal.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Harry himself was having a blast with Colonnello.  They both had feathery Animal Partners, so they bonded over the respective Partners’ quirks and habit of pecking them when they were annoyed.

Colonnello also began to teach Harry about traps and other tidbits of useful information about using the terrain to one’s advantage.  “Nothing about an environment is entirely benign, kora!”  Colonnello told the teen as they made the rounds around Mafia Land.  “You can use just about any quirk in an environment to your advantage if you stay calm and _think_.”

 “So, you can use small imperfections against your opponent?”  Harry inquired curiously.

Colonnello nodded sharply.  “Exactly.  There’s no such thing as an impenetrable or imperturbable fortress, kora!  There are always design flaws!  Smart people, like Verde, know this and purposely try to keep their captives off balance and panicking so they _can’t_ think about things rationally, kora!”

“Wow.”

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Bermuda was pleased.

Construction of both snowflakes had been completed, and he had just finished charging the grounding snowflake with his Night Flames.

It looked rather beautiful, carved into the heart of the mountain, the silver metal of the frame wreathed in the dark Flame.

The grounding snowflake was inlaid into a flat plane of rock that had been carved beneath the lowest level of the Vindicare.  The area around it had been shored up by the Goblins and the Dwarves, to divert or prevent a natural disaster from obliterating the prison and the new site of the Arcobaleno Pacifiers.  It was 7 to the 3rd power from end to end and side to side.  Measured in meters, as the basis of the metric system was 10.  The second snowflake was exactly as large, but tailored as per the design. 

The walls of the cavern had been lined with runes and characters, and all in all it looked rather majestic.

The second snowflake was about a quarter of a mile above it, suspended on thick pillars of stone with all manner of runes carved into them.  The center of the pillars held metalwork that connected the two snowflakes so the Night Flame could ground and sustain the second.

Bermuda was still wearing his Pacifier, and he would until the other Pacifiers had been added to the second snowflake.

Bermuda ran one more critical glance over the room and nodded decisively.

 _Time to let Harry know_.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Harry ran the silky cloth of the Invisibility Cloak through his hands.

He’d found it in his bag about a month ago, and Sirius had greatly enjoyed relating tales of mischief and hijinks that were possible due to the Cloak to the young Potter.

The young Sky Arcobaleno sighed softly and tried to push back the tears as he considered what was about to happen.

 _I love you guys_.  He thought miserably as he thought about the people who were family to him.  _I love you so much_.

He gripped the Sky Pacifier.  “Uncle Kawahira, I need to talk to you.”  He said through the thick emotion that tried to clog his throat.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Kawahira wondered at the strength of young Harry’s soul.

Even sick and clearly dying the boy was determined to end the Curse.

The last True Earthborn shook his head as he prepared for one last performance as Checker Face or The Man in The Iron Hat.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

All six of the Arcobaleno were laid out on their corresponding parts of the snowflake, deeply asleep, their Animal Partners beside them, also asleep.

(The trickiest part of the entire plan was how to keep the Vindice from starting a war with Kawahira in his ‘Man In The Iron Hat’ guise, but fortunately Harry was able to convince them to stay their hand.)

Their Pacifiers were slotted into the holders that had been crafted for them, but were still connected to the individual Arcobaleno.

Bermuda and Harry were also in place with Hedwig sitting proudly on her Partner’s shoulder, their Pacifiers inside the receptacle made for them, but they were bowed over the Pacifiers, preparing to push all the Flame they could manage into the snowflakes.

“Alright.”  The Man In The Iron Hat said.  “It’s time, Bermuda, Harry.”

Both Arcobaleno nodded and began to pour Flame into their Pacifiers.

Harry panted as he pulled up all his desperation to save his Arcobaleno- all of his willpower to see them free- and used it to pour every bit of himself into the new design.

 _Please let this work_.  He mentally begged, eyes screwed shut as he focused entirely on his task.

“It’s starting.”  The Man In The Iron Hat intoned, just as the Arcobaleno Elements’ Pacifiers lit up and the began to emit an overwhelming amount of bright, pure Flames.

For a few moments there was so much Flame in the air, Harry was entirely disoriented.

Then, like an orchestra’s crescendo, the Flames _surged_ together and the world went _white_ as the connections between the Arcobaleno and their Pacifiers _snapped_ as the snowflakes took their places.

“It’s _working_.”  Harry breathed in wonder as he opened his eyes and tipped his head back so he could witness the results of his plan with his own eyes.  “ _It’s working_!”  He said again, louder, as pure euphoria erupted in his veins and he laughed- _wild and free and delighted_ \- as the snowflakes stopped sucking their Flames and began to sustain _themselves_.

Behind his mask, Kawahira was also astounded and below them Berumda laughed in exultant triumph.

“ **Lord Bermuda**!”  One of the Vindice called urgently.  “ **Lord Bermuda**!”

Bermuda’s head snapped up to his subordinate, “What is it?  Is something wrong?”

“ **No, Lord Bermuda**.” Jager replied shakily. “ **But we’ve- our bodies** -“  Jager pulled down the bandages that covered his hand and held it out towards the Vindice Boss. 

Bermuda gasped as he took in the state of Jager’s hand.  Where there had once been mangled flesh and bone there was now a smooth, pale hand with jagged silver scars.

“ **We’re _whole_ again.  Not exactly alive, but we’re no longer mangled**.”  Jager explained.

Kawahira smiled behind his mask and left before the Vindice remembered he was there- and responsible for their previous condition.

Before they could celebrate any more, Harry broke into an unforgiving coughing fit.

“ **Harry**!”  Bermuda yelled.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Reborn returned to consciousness slowly, his eyebrows furrowing as he tried to figure out what was missing.

He cast his senses around the room and found himself to be in the bedroom he used in the Arcobaleno Mansion, which was odd because the last things he remembered was falling asleep in his room at the Vongola Mansion.

Reborn opened his eyes and went to grab at his Pacifier.

It was _missing_.

Reborn was blasted into full awareness as he sat bolt upright and tried to locate his missing Pacifier, comforted to note Leon’s presence on the bed beside him.  He cast his eyes around the room, Flaring his Flames- _and nearly blinding himself in the process as he used too much of them_ \- to check for any tell-tell signs of an illusion.

Suddenly, a wounded wail of, “ ** _Harry_**!”  Resounded through the Mansion.

That was _Viper_.  _Viper did not scream_.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Skull burst the room, tears already wetting his face, as he took in Viper’s distraught expression and teary, fury-filled countenance.  It wasn’t a moment later that Lal and Colonnello arrived, and on their heels was Verde, followed closely by Fon and Reborn.

“Viper!”  Was the general greeting that was exchanged, along with some variation of ‘what’s wrong’ or ‘what’s going on’.

“It’s Harry!”  Viper cried in distress.  “He found a way to break the Curse even though he didn’t think he’d survive it!”

The room fell deathly silent.  “What?” Lal whispered.

Viper waved the paper around and faced them fully.  “That _stupid, selfless boy_ broke the Curse and then went off to Britain to _die_ so _we_ wouldn’t be in danger while _we_ recovered!”

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Harry felt bad for what he was doing. 

Hiding under his Invisibility Cloak and sneaking aboard a flight to England wasn’t a good way to repay Bermuda for his kindness.

But Harry _had_ to go.  Because he was _already dying_ and there was someone in Britain who sought after him seriously enough that they’d used _Dark Magic_ to sap his magic.

Harry sniffled angrily and tried to convince himself that the aching, bleeding hole in his chest would feel better soon.  He’d be with his parents, and he’d sent Hedwig off with a letter to Sirius, explaining everything and he’d left letters for his Arcobaleno and Bermuda and the Vindice and-

The sobs broke through and Harry retched.

 _I’m not strong_.  He thought miserably.  _I miss Skull and Verde and Viper and Lal and Colonnello and Fon and Reborn and Sirius and Marius already.  I wish they were here and I didn’t have to do this.  I wish I’d never left. I wish that we were a real family and not just together because we’d had to be.  I wish-_

The plane finally landed and Harry was the first one off of it, trying to keep himself busy.

 _It’s almost over.  My-The Arcobaleno- former Arcobaleno- will be fine.  Better even._   He told himself as he made his way towards the airport exit. 

_It’s almost over._

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

It took a few moments for all the Arcobaleno to realize what was so different.

Their Curse was gone.

“That boy.” Lal growled wetly.

“He probably thinks that since we’re not Arcobaleno any longer we wouldn’t want anything to do with him.”  Skull said in slowly growing horror.  “He has nothing to live for, in that case.”

The others looked at Skull, whose head was bowed as his shoulder shook with silent sobs and mulled over that observation.

“I am going to _strap him to a chair and inject him with self-worth_ when we get him back.”  Verde growled.

“I will assist you.” Fon said woodenly as he flexed his fingers.

“Count me in, kora!”

Viper sneezed and cursed.  “Something is disrupting my technique.”  She informed them crisply.

“He has an Invisibility Cloak.”  Skull informed them dully.  “It’s really powerful.”

“Well,” Lal said dangerously, “What are we doing standing around like idiots.  Gear up.”

“Agreed.”  Reborn echoed.  “We’re going to take back our Sky.”

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Harry shrugged off his Cloak and put it in his backpack, but was entirely unprepared for the lurching sensation he felt immediately afterwards.

 _This is a Portkey_.  He thought fuzzily, as he landed in a heap and crawled up onto his knees and vomited violently.

He heard footsteps behind him and words being spoken, but he couldn’t make out any of it as he continued to be sick. 

He blacked out shortly thereafter.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Bermuda was exceedingly vexed.

The recovering Arcobaleno had _lost Harry_.  This was unacceptable.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Sirius Black made a call. 

“ _We will pick you up in an hour.  Be ready_.”

The line went dead, but Sirius was already packing.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Albus Dumbledore was so focused on the unresponsive teen in his arms, he didn’t see the student who saw Harry and recognized him as the old man passed them by.

Ten minutes later, an owl left the Owlrey bearing an urgent message.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Poppy Pomfrey had been treating children for a long time, most of her life actually, and she was one of the foremost magical Pediatric Healers in the world.

However, she had _no idea_ what was wrong with Harry Potter.

The boy had been in her care for nearly thirteen days and hadn’t awoken; he just broke out into violent fits of coughs ever so often and acted as if he had a nasty cold.

Normally she’d call for one of her colleagues at St. Mungos to help her, but twelve days ago Lord Voldemort had reappeared and St. Mungos and the Ministry had both fallen within hours of his appearance in the middle of Diagon Alley.

Less than five hours after his first appearance the Dementors rebelled and Lord Voldemort’s most faithful were freed from Azkaban.  The prisoners were reportedly given the option to join the Death Eaters or be Kissed.

The majority of them joined.

The Wizarding World was in as nearly as much chaos as it had been on Halloween 1981.

The Headmaster came by from time to time to ask her about the boy’s condition and seemed to be becoming increasingly fixated upon it as Lord Voldemort’s reign of terror continued to expand.

Poppy continued to tell him that the boy was all but nonresponsive, but the Headmaster insisted that Harry would recover.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Harry slowly came back into awareness.

It felt as if there was a continent attached to him and trying to drag him down.

Everything ached and not just in a physical sense.

Since he’d awoken from breaking the Arcobaleno Curse, he’d felt an unusual heaviness dragging him down.

Harry carefully tested his limbs and was pleased to note that he still had his wand strapped to his arm.  _Viper is truly an amazing illusionist_.  He thought fondly before the fact that Viper was now free of the Curse- of him- rammed into his like a blunt, jagged knife and he tried to hunch in on himself.

“Welcome, Mr. Potter.”  A firm, no nonsense voice said from somewhere above him, startling Harry out of his maudlin thoughts and into full awareness.

Harry blinked a few times and glanced around warily.  He was in what seemed to be an old-fashioned hospital and the woman who had spoken was wearing a nurse’s uniform that reminded him of the stories of the legendary Florence Nightingale. 

“You’re in the Infirmary of Hogwarts School, Mr. Potter.”  The woman informed him briskly.  “I am Master Healer Pomfrey, you may refer to me as Madam Pomfrey.  You’ve been under my care for almost two weeks.”

A glass was pressed to his lips.  “Drink.”  She ordered.

Harry obediently drank most of the water before withdrawing.  “Thank you.”  He said quietly.   “Why am I here?”

“That would be my fault, my dear boy.”

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Harry was absolutely numb.

Well, that wasn’t entirely accurate.  He’d never been this angry before and he was rather terrified of what would happen should he fully acknowledge it.

The man, Headmaster Dumbledore- the same man who had left him with the Dursleys- had been the one who cast the tether that had made him sicker.

Oh, he hadn’t come out and said, ‘I cast a piece of forbidden Dark Magic that nearly killed you.’ But since Harry already _knew_ that it wasn’t hard to put the pieces together.

The Headmaster had given him a spiel about how his mother’s love had saved him that Halloween night and how there were special Wards around his Aunt’s house that had protected him.

That was where he had been shuttled off to, as the Headmaster wanted to ‘recharge’ the Wards, since they hadn’t fully fallen yet.  Harry see signs of the people who were ‘keeping an eye’ on him- _not that the man had told him about them-_ from his dismal window and he wondered at the cruel irony that his journey would end _here_ of all places.

His relatives seemed to still be under the influence of whatever Uncle Kawahira had done to them, thankfully.

Supposedly once the Wards were ‘recharged’ and he was ‘fully protected’ he would be going back to Hogwarts to ‘start’ his magical education.  Thankfully the Headmaster had been too busy to question where Harry had been too closely- he’d told the man that a strange man had taken him and then he’d thought he’d been expelled so he hadn’t thought coming back was an option-  to which the man had all but patted him on the head and scolded him.

He had been told about the resurgence of his parent’s murderer and how the man was likely to come after him because Harry had bested him once before and Harry felt vaguely responsible to do what he could to help out- you know, before he died.

Harry rested his head against the glass as he went over his options and tried to not think about what hi- _the_ ex-Arcobaleno were doing.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

The ex-Arcobaleno were finally ready to make their move. 

They’d had to wait because they had discovered that they were experiencing random growth spurts shortly after they had discovered Harry’s disappearance.  It threw off their balance and abilities, so they’d been forced to wait it out.

Now they all appeared to be in their teens and hadn’t experienced any random growth spurts in five days.  Verde postulated that because the Curse affected the reproductive systems, (that is to say it essentially whitewashed it), since their bodies had now entered puberty it had leveled out.

Of course, none of them had been idle in that time and now they were _extremely_ well-prepared.

Because Magical Britain was at war with itself, and the ex-Arcobaleno were grimly certain that their Sky would never know a moment’s peace until it was ended decisively.  They all suspected that ‘Light Faction’ had Harry, as if the ‘dark’ side had gotten a hold of him they would have been talking about it.

They had found Harry’s backpack on a sidewalk outside of the airport in London, and had started backtracking everything from there.

They knew, because Sirius had been gathering Intel for them while they’d been biding their time, that Harry had been at Hogwarts School recently but he wasn’t currently a student.

From there their clues had led them to the Dursley family, and three days ago the number of occupants of Number Four Privet Drive went from two to _three_.  The son was still at his boarding school, which meant the other occupant was most likely their Sky.

“He’s not going to like this.” Skull noted absently as he checked his weapons.

“He’s a Prisoner of War.”  Lal retorted firmly.  “We’re fully within our rights.”

“ **Indeed**.”  Their newest ally agreed.

Skull looked over at the former Vindice Arcobaleno.  “You still scare me.”  He commented offhandedly.

Bermuda’s smile was self-satisfied.  “Good.  No one is above the law.”

“Let’s move out, kora!”

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

“These people are invisible not intangible,  kora.”  Colonnello muttered as he looked through the scope of his sniper rifle.

Two shots later Viper confirmed that their opponents were down.  “Go.”  Colonnello whispered into the mic.

Lal Mirch was slipping inside the backdoor of Number Four less than three minutes later. 

Harry was in the kitchen, which was just off the backdoor.  “You foolish boy.”  She hissed lowly. 

Harry spun around and looked at her longingly.  “Lal?”  He whispered hoarsely.  Then he scowled and shook his head sharply.  “Don’t be _stupid_ , Harry.  They’re free of you, why would Lal be here.”

Just as he finished his statement a stinging slap connected with the back of his head.  Harry’s rubbed at it and stared a Lal confusedly.  “ _You foolish boy_!”  She ranted at him, tears stinging her eyes as her heart twisted at seeing her Sky so miserable.  “You’re our Sky.  Why would we ever wish to be free of you?”

Green eyes filled with tears, “But-“

Lal wrapped her arms around him and pulled him to her and Harry’s head fell forward against the juncture of her neck easily.  “That is _the last time_ you will make such a _stupid_ statement in my presence, do you understand me?”

“But-“

“ _Do you understand me?”_

“I-I understand.”  Harry whispered meekly as his arms came around her and he squeezed her tightly.  “I understand.”

She refused to let Harry go, instead she shifted so he was beside her and began to guide him towards the backdoor.  “Let’s go home, Harry.”

“But there’s a war-,”  He mumbled tiredly into her neck.  “I can’t-I can’t just-“

“You will do nothing, child.” Viper’s voice sounded from his other side, as the normally taciturn Mist user wound an arm around Harry’s waist.  “We will take care of it.”

Harry blinked up at Viper, “But I can’t-“

“You can and you will, kora!”  Colonnello joined them as they reached the hedges.  “And let me tell you, the little lady is going to peck you to death when we get home, kora!”

“You guys.”  Harry whispered weakly as he looked between the three of them.  “All of you?”

Colonnello snorted and reached forward and ruffled Harry’s hair.  “All of us.  I’m pretty sure you’re going to be Skull’s new teddy bear for the foreseeable future.  Hope you enjoyed freedom while it lasted, kora!”

“But why?”

“What did I say about stupid statements.”  Lal snapped as they started moving again. 

Harry cried.  “ _I love you guys so much_.  I wanted to protect you, so I left but-“

“Everybody needs somebody sometimes, child.”  Viper soothed as she and Lal maneuvered Harry into the waiting car and Colonnello hopped into the driver’s seat.  “To borrow a phrase from Skull, ‘we’re your Elements, let us rage’”

Harry slumped against Lal and decided to trust in the people he loved.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Lord Voldemort stood outside the Wards of Hogwarts and basked in his sense of imminent victory.

Hogwarts was the last stronghold against him in Britain.

He turned towards his followers and made his speech.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Albus Dumbledore stood at the entryway to the castle and activated the defenses.

Hogwarts was soon to become a battlefield.

He turned towards his fellow fighters and made his speech.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

At a castle in Britain, in the twilight hour, two factions go to war.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Albus stood across from Voldemort, they were both tired and wounded.

The battlefield was entirely silent save for the pained moans of the wounded.  Waiting with bated breath to see which of the titans would fall.

A chill sweeps through the air and Lord Voldemort’s lips twist into a savage grin as he feels the tide turn in his favor and the Dementors descend upon the battlefield.

The shadows on the ground churn violent and black portals rip open, admitting strange figures in tattered dark blue cloaks and top hats, with bandages around all their exposed skin.

Both factions have an instant fear of them.

Chains wreathed in dark Flames burst forth and subdue the Dementors with inhuman ease.  No matter that there are nearly _five hundred Dementors_ , and most of them are in the sky, the strange newcomers easily subdue them.

Then the Dementors _catch fire._

The dark Flames that wreath the chains _consume_ the dark creatures, who let out inhuman, agonized wails as they are burned alive, leaving nothing but ash in the wind.

While they are still stupefied in horror, the fighters become prisoners.

“ **No one is above the law**.”  One of the bandaged newcomers says gravely.  “ **Witness judgment**.”

Albus Dumbledore and Lord Voldemort both are wreathed in Flames.

The titans fall.

“ **Any who choose to continue this fight will be judged**.”  The bandaged newcomer says.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

As the battlefield shakes off the shock and the first few rise to challenge them, the ex-Arcobaleno who are pretending to be Vindice ready themselves.

Behind his bandages, Reborn whispers, “ _Chaos_.”

Fon’s Storm is at a fever pitch just waiting to be unleashed.

Verde grins wickedly and taps his fingers against his newest creation.

Colonnello and Lal exchange anticipatory, expectant glances.

Viper readies her foulest illusions as she uses her Esper abilities to make sure they make an _impact_ , while Skull quickly begins to calculate where to hit to do the most damage and provide Viper with the maximum amount of protection.

Tonight the Elements _rage_.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Harry screamed in pain. 

“Harry!”  Sirius yelled as he came running into the room.  “Harry- _the fuck_?”

Dark Flames have sprouted from the boy’s forehead and Sirius rushes forward to hold Harry still so the teen will stop clawing at his face, babbling soothing nonsense to the teen all the while.

The Flames burn for nearly ten minutes and Harry’s screams become hoarser before an unearthly scream emits from his scar and the boy falls limp.

“ _Harry_!”

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Harry wakes up to a mouth full of purple hair and chuckles.  “You know.”  He mumbles drowsily, “You were more fun to cuddle with when you were stuck as a cute toddler.”

“Sh’ up, ‘Ry.”  Skull slurs sleepily. 

“We’re going to see your stupid penguins, now go back to sleep, brat.”  Lal says from the doorway.

“Lal.”  Harry says happily, squirming around so until he can see the former Rain Arcobaleno.  “We there yet?”

Lal rolls her eyes and walks over the perch on the edge of the bed.  “No.”  She says exasperatedly as she begins to card gentle fingers through his hair, “But I’m pretty sure that Colonnello is going to toss Verde overboard if he starts moaning about his newest experiments _one more time_.  Viper is hiding with your Godfather.  I think they’re playing poker.”

“Hmmm,” Harry sighs sleepily.  “Fon will-“  he broke out into a wide yawn.  “-stop him.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure.”  Reborn says from the doorway.  “I think Fon is about at his science limit.  Why aren’t you sleeping brat?”

Harry blinked slowly and smiled warmly at them, “Cause I wanted to make sure you guys were still here.”

Reborn rolls his eyes and chuckles.  “We’re not the ones who were dead for seven minutes, brat.”

“Hmm.”  Harry murmurs as Lal’s ministrations relax him further.  Just before he falls asleep he tells them,  “I love you guys.  Don’t let Siri cook.”

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―


	8. Epilogue- Hogwarts Aftermath

“ **All of you are now bound by the Ancient Decrees of the Victors, specifically the Reparations of the Conquered**.”  The terrifying being in the tattered cloak informed the defeated denizens of Hogwarts.

The disguised Arcobaleno had thoroughly _crushed_ their enemies and it was now time to drive home their punishment on the world who wronged their Sky. 

However, Bermuda was in charge of that as this next part distinctly fell under the Vindice’s jurisdiction.

Temporary allies or no, the former Arcobaleno did _not_ wish to irritate the Mafia Enforcers.

“ **You will all bear a Chain of Judgment until you have been Judged and have accepted your Verdict.  You have three days to gather evidence for your Defense.  The Tribunals will be conducted at Azkaban Prison, which is now under our control, as you have lost the right to be responsible for your criminals.”**   The same being informed them in a chillingly flat voice that entirely lacked any sense of empathy for the defeated peoples.  “ **You cannot hide, and if you make any attempt to escape Judgment you will be subject to the full force of the Absconder’s Forfeit in addition to the penalties you will receive under the Reparations of the Conquered.  Attempting to take your own life is considered as an attempt to escape Judgment and will be treated as such.  We will now place the Chains of Judgment upon you, do not resist, you will not enjoy the consequences.”**

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

The next few days were extremely hectic for the victors, but they were especially determined to see their plans through when they’d found out that Harry had _died for seven minutes_ after the Vindice had consumed Voldemort with their Flame.

(The Vindice hadn’t felt the need to inform their temporary allies that Dumbledore hadn’t been consumed as well.  The old wizard was currently locked up in the lowest level of the Vindicare as punishment for causing grievous harm to their Sky.  The Flames that consumed Voldemort had been used to obscure the view as they pulled the old man through the portal that opened up behind him.)

Those from the Wizarding World who attempted to flee were held at the Vindicare while the taskforce renovated Azkaban. 

Attempting to flee was made more difficult for them as under the Ancient Decree of the Victors the Goblins held the right to deny access to the Vaults until Judgment was passed.  It was made doubly difficult because most families were so interrelated, meaning that the majority of the British Wizards, and a fair few from surrounding nations, were currently in an indeterminate state and awaiting Judgment.

If it seemed callous and cruel, that is because it _was_ , the Vindice were ambivalent towards political ideals and personal motivations, and they were simply judging everyone according to the _law_.  However, since the _Vindice_ were now the law to the British magicals, all the laws that defined crime and punishment that did not coincide with the Vindice’s ideas of justice were stricken from the record, which would be a bitter disappointment to many of the Purebloods who had been banking on using laws that had been passed since Voldemort’s initial downfall or his resurgence to their advantage.

The surrounding Ministries were far too terrified of these specter-like, shadowy enforcers- _who casually took out both Dumbledore and Voldemort-_ to interfere or demand that their citizens be extradited and tried in their home countries. The few Flame-Active persons who recognized who the Vindice truly were cowered in abject terror and prayed for mercy. 

The ICW unanimously voted to stay out of Britain’s affairs, just as they had when Voldemort had been wreaking havoc.  Magical nations were rather firmly insular, after all. 

The Vindice themselves were grateful that they needed very little rest and that the snowflakes allowed Bermuda to grant them a nearly unlimited amount of Flame as they went about their new duties as well as their usual ones. 

Contrary to popular belief, there were a little over twenty Vindice altogether, so monitoring Azkaban would not be a strain on them once everything settled down.  Granted the Vindice propagated the idea of them being an insanely small organization to help inspire a greater panic in the hearts of would-be criminals.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

Azkaban was barely recognizable.

(Actually, Azkaban was _entirely obscured_ by the new upgrades.  Viper had done a good job to begin with, but Kawahira had decided to surreptitiously assist.  Kawahira was _not_ fond of humans in general, and by-and-large British magicals seemed to embody everything he hated _most_ about humanity, so it was with a rather wicked amount of glee that he reinforced the former Arcobaleno’s work.

Plus, Harry embodied everything that Kawahira _liked_ about the occasional human and these people had _harmed_ the child.  Working out for the best in the end or _no_ , that grated against Kawahira’s Earthborn sensibilities.

It wasn’t because he thought that Harry would have made an amazing Earthborn youngster.  _Not at all_.)

The stone had been carved with runes and cleaned, while internal infrastructure of the prison had been entirely renovated by the Vindice.  The the Arcobaleno had each contributed to the upgrades before the Vindice had taken over and made the prison truly formidable, which only made it that much more daunting.

Truthfully it was even more foreboding _now_ that it had been when the Dementors were in charge.

Verde had provided the Flame-flavored magical advancements, and between those and the Vindice’s adjustments it was the setting of a criminal’s worst nightmare.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

The first Tribunal was that of Sirius Black. 

The ruthless way the Vindice conducted the Tribunal struck _terror_ into the hearts of those who were still awaiting their own Judgments.

The fact that the Vindice were so thorough that they sentenced Sirius for his part in nearly getting Severus Snape bitten by the Werewolf, (though it was credited as time served, as Sirius had been falsely imprisoned and the maximum sentence for that was 5 years in moderate security), showed that these beings were _pitilessly impartial_.

Many people were especially terrified, because-

-no one was getting away with an _apology_ or a ‘ _change of heart’_ this time.

Impartial justice had never seemed so _frightening_.

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―

The Tribunals took a grueling two weeks.

Pentalties were extracted through money, land, and all manner of material possessions- on top of any time in Azkaban that was handed down.

By the time the last person was Judged, the magical population were even _more terrified_ of their new jailers, if for no other reason than the fact that _no one_ escaped prosecution by fleeing or even suicide, (the shadowy Vindice would show up before they could commit the act, and the Chain would absorb any damage, leaving the magicals who attempted such a thing at the Vindice’s not-so-tender mercies).

 _Not a single person escaped their day in court_. 

**Not one.**

―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―~~―


End file.
